Precedence Set
by MM995
Summary: What takes to put one Ash Ketchum on the road to become a Pokemon Master? A tutelage under the venerable Prof. Oak, an eagerness to learn about all things Pokemon and, last but not least, a deeply traumatic experience to add a whole new twist to things. After all, what's life without a little drama? Mostly anime, but with elements from the games.
1. The First Step (revised)

**Edited: 07.05.2017**

* * *

The morning Sun was shining through his bedroom window as he was putting his clothes on, getting ready to go to Prof. Oak's lab. His mother was preparing his backpack and filling it with the essentials, having promised she would see him off at the gates of the Professor's home. She would bring him his pack then.

He pushed his arms through the short sleeves of the black t-shirt with the folded collar, his azure jeans already on him. Initially, he had opted for a short-sleeved, blue jacket and a black shirt underneath, but Samuel Oak had insisted that he wear a light t-shirt for the duration of the summer, which were perpetually hot in the Kanto region. Covered in sweat isn't the new anything, he had said, and Ash couldn't fault his reasoning. Ergo, the new set of clothes.

He tightened his belt, designed especially for holding pokeballs. Six he would receive for free from Prof. Oak, one of them occupied by a Pokemon of his choice, his starter Pokemon. Excited jitters coursed through his body, though he hid it well enough with practiced composure. For a while now, he had felt the need to go out there, to train Pokemon and battle with them. To explore and conquer, so to speak.

He was not yet sure which of the traditionally offered starters he would choose, but he had already decided that Bulbasaur would be his last choice. He didn't really favor Charmander and Squirtle over it, the plant-like Pokemon simply didn't fit well with his preferred speedy combat style. Though Blastoise, Squirtle's final form, wasn't particularly fast either, it at least had a hard shell to protect itself, unlike Venusaur.

As he headed for the door, his eyes landed on a large book on his desk.

 _A Children's Encyclopedia On Pokemon Outside Of Kanto_ , by Samuel Oak

He remembered the day he received it, given to him by the very author.

The day the venerable Professor had accepted him as his student.

He had been such an excitable kid back then, with a heart full of love for all Pokemon and a determination-will-let-you-plow-through-any-obstacle sort of attitude. A naivete many adults would find endearing and adorable.

He fully understood why his mentor had thought it prudent to take him under his wing. In the real world, things were never that simple. He learned that particular lesson the hard way.

The excruciatingly hard way.

The raven-haired boy grabbed his left shoulder, the wound beneath the shirt there to remind him of his stupidity. Every day he would glimpse it in the mirror, the healed wound looking like a Spinarak had made a web underneath the skin of his shoulder. It had been a terribly painful injury he had received that day eight months ago, now dubbed by him, his mother and the Professor as 'The Incident'. It had changed him, for the better in his opinion.

But he didn't think the cost had been worth it.

He shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of the negative train of thought. No sense in brooding anymore. After reaching downstairs, he exited his house and set course for the lab. As expected, it was hot on the morning of July 1st in Pallet Town, the three heads of the town's Dodrio screeching in tandem. It took him near ten minutes to arrive at the old man's front door before ringing the doorbell. He waited patiently until the door was opened by said old man.

"Right on time, Ash. Come in," Samuel Oak greeted him with a smile. The boy returned the greeting with a nod and entered.

They passed various rooms that held the most cutting edge technology and equipment in the world before reaching the one where the Professor gave away the starters, which also happened to be the main laboratory. A large, cylindrical machine stood near the right corner, three pokeballs on the platform forming a triangle. The two of them came to stand in front of it and Ash could see that each pokeball had a sticker that signified which type of Pokemon was in each one.

"Tell me, have you decided which of the starters you would choose?" the 55 year-old man asked, his hands folded behind his back.

"Not really, but I'd take either a Charmander or Squirtle if they're available. I don't think I'd do well with a Bulbasaur right now," Ash answered promptly.

"Not to worry, I still have a few of each species, as you should know." The boy did indeed know that, having had a hand in raising them himself. "However, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind a bit of a breach in tradition. You see, I found a Pokemon that I think would fit you perfectly," Prof. Oak said before pushing one of the buttons, causing the hatch in the middle of the platform to open.

This surprised him, unusual as it was. Of course, not all Trainers began with one of the usual regional starters, but that was normally achieved through family or other familial connections, not through regional professors. It was more-or-less a privilege, he thought somewhat proudly. As a pokeball was raised through the hatch, he saw a lighting-styled sticker on the device, immediately alluding him to the type that resided within.

Electric-type, huh? He could work with that. Like lightening itself, most of them were naturally fast and nimble. For him, that was good.

Prof. Oak took the ball and pressed the button on it, causing it to open and release a beam of white energy. The energy materialized on the machine, close to the pokeballs. As the light died down, the raven-haired boy saw that it had formed into a small, yellow Pokemon with red circles on its cheeks and a rectangular tail. It's black, beady eyes stared forward at them innocently.

"I certainly hope you can tell me what species this is, my boy?"

Ash resisted the urge to roll his eyes, of course he knew it was a Pikachu. The Professor knew he knew. It was him that made damn-well sure that he would always answer that question correctly, regardless of what Pokemon he found in front of him, thanks to that encyclopedia he had given him.

It was a system he had designed especially for him. He would personally tutor Ash three times a week, twice during the working days and once during the weekend. He would assign him 'homework' before each lesson, which was to learn everything the book had to offer of about three to four Pokemon. At the weekend, if the old man determined he hadn't done well enough the previous week, as punishment, he would forbid him to play with the Pokemon in his corral the next week.

Back then, that had been more horrifying than if he had said he would pull one of his teeth out for each time he failed.

Needless to say, it was an effective motivator to study.

Since the encyclopedia only had knowledge on Pokemon native outside of Kanto, the ones indigenous to their region he was taught by the Professor himself at their private lessons. Results spoke for themselves and he was proud to say that he could put a name to the face of virtually every Pokemon species in the world.

Samuel Oak was a man who believed in careful preparedness and practiced skill, that they triumphed even over experience often enough. He emphasized the importance of rational thought and observations, as a scientist should, but he believed it was something that ought to be applied beyond just science. Discretion was the better part of valor, he liked to preach. Through his teachings - and with no little help from The Incident - Ash had come to accept it too.

"How come I'm receiving a Pikachu?" he asked with a confused frown.

"Well, we both know your fighting style is to hit hard and hit fast, and I thought a Pikachu would be a good way to start putting what you learned to practice. Consider it a parting gift if you will. After today, most of your lessons you'll be learning independently without my guidance," he responded.

Ash shook his head, "While that's mildly flattering, that's not what I meant. What I meant was why are you giving me a Pokemon that is in its evolved form? Don't you have to give rookies Pokemon in their pre-evolved state?" Part of the reason for his inquiry was also because he was worried that Prof. Oak was giving him an evolved Pokemon out of pity. Ever since eight months ago, some of his well-meaning sternness had evaporated and, after Ash had recovered from his injuries, he had taken the tutoring easier on him.

The notion that his mentor would lighten his load as a rookie Pokemon Trainer out of pity bothered him more than he was willing to admit.

Surprisingly, he smirked slightly and gestured towards the electric mouse, inviting him to approach it. _Him_ , he could see thanks to his tail, as female Pikachu had a V-shaped notch at the end of theirs. However, when he took a step closer the Pokemon narrowed his eyes in anger and growled at him, electricity threateningly emitting from his cheeks. He stopped immediately. The deep mistrust in Pikachu's expression as palpable as a lit candle in a dark room, he dared not approach any closer. Still facing the Mouse Pokemon, he moved his gaze to Prof. Oak and noticed the light-hearted smirk still present on his face.

That conniving, old man. There _was_ a catch. Ordinarily, all Pokemon that regional professors gave away to new Trainers were expecting to be taken eventually, and the professors taught them to be at least accepting of it, if not intrinsically obedient.

It seemed he was wrong. He wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"As I said, it's time you put your training to practice. You see, I caught this Pikachu two days back and despite besting him in battle, he is unusually uncooperative and rowdy. But earning a Pokemon's respect is a mark of a good Trainer and I figured this could be my final test to you." His mentor then gave him a look, "After all, trust is important in a bond, is it not?"

Trust, a concept he had fought with since The Incident. It was perhaps the most significant change the event had brought in him; his trust was no longer blind, whether towards people or Pokemon. He had to give the Professor props; he really was a conniving, old man, making him face his issues like this.

"Yeah, I guess it is," he agreed. Deciding it was best to do it from a distance, he graced Pikachu with a slight smile, "Hey, my name is Ash Ketchum and I'll be your new buddy." Long enough to become an old one hopefully was left unsaid.

Pikachu raised a non-existent eyebrow before stubbornly turning away. He stopped growling at least.

Ash just raised an eyebrow as well, not at all affected by the Pokemon's obstinate demeanor. He wouldn't be the first one, as not all residents of Oak's corral were friendly and meek. He turned to the Professor, "Can I have the Pokedex and pokeballs?"

The man nodded and reached into the pockets of his lab coat. He outstretched his hands after fishing them out, one holding the red device and the other holding the pokeballs, "Here. Like I promised, I've programmed the Pokedex to allow you to posses up to twelve Pokemon at a certain time. Should you feel overwhelmed at any point, I highly recommend you immediately send one or two Pokemon to the lab. Don't go biting off more than you can chew."

Ash nodded, having had this conversation with the aged researcher an almost-exasperating several times already.

"It's your responsibility to care for your charges," Samuel Oak said seriously, 'charges' meaning the Pokemon he would catch. "If either a league official or I myself find that you weren't able to take ample care of them, you may temporarily get your Trainer's license revoked, so I strongly advise you to not get ahead of yourself. Apart from that, the Pokedex has been programmed to contain information on foreign Pokemon as well."

"I understand. I'll be sure to take good care of all Pokemon I catch, starting with Pikachu," he said, purposely adding the last part for his starter to hear.

Pikachu looked curiously at the boy, but shook his head and looked away again. It was slight, but it was progress. Ash took the objects before activating his Pokedex and pointing it towards Pikachu. As soon as the scanner hit the electric rodent, an electronic voice spoke out.

 **Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon and the evolved form of Pichu. It has small electric sacs on both it's cheeks. If threatened, it looses electric charges from the sacs. This Pikachu is male and has the ability Static. It has additionally unlocked the hidden ability Lightning Rod. He knows the moves Thunder Shock, Growl, Thunder Wave, Quick Attack and Agility. He also has the egg move Volt Tackle which has not been unlocked yet.**

"Not bad for a starter. I'm especially impressed that Pikachu will be able to unlock Volt Tackle. It's the most powerful Electric-type attack along with Thunder," Prof. Oak said with his hand on his chin.

"I haven't heard of that move," Ash said, impressed by the move but contrite by his lack of knowledge of it, while Pikachu puffed up his chest in pride.

"A powerful move only those of the Pichu line are able to utilize. The Pokedex has all the information you need to know."

The boy nodded, observing the Pokemon's proud expression and posture, "Pikachu, do you like battling and getting stronger?"

Though he didn't answer him in any way, his distrustful eyes glinted with a restrained fire.

"I'd like to make a deal with you," he said, causing a bit of curiosity to overtake the Pokemon's visage. "I promise I'll do my best to train you and every other Pokemon that wants to journey with me, but you'll have to follow my orders during battle and any training regimen I make for you."

As expected, the suspicion was back on Pikachu's face with a scowl and he growled again, his cheeks expelling small but dangerous looking sparks of electricity. He may want to become stronger, but there was no way he was going to be anyone's slave to achieve that. Hell, if Arceus himself asked him, he'd have no compunction of giving the God of Pokemon the finger (not really, but the point still stood).

Knowing how it sounded, the raven-haired youth raised his hands in what he hoped was a pacifying manner, "I'm not expecting you to trust me as a friend or anything, but at least give me some time to prove that your strength _and_ your health will be on the forefront of my mind. We'll be doing this as equals and with time I hope we can become friends, so feel free to let me know whenever you think I'm being unreasonable."

The Pokemon considered his words and calmed down soon afterwards, still a bit tense. With a relieved sigh, Ash took Pikachu's pokeball, which caused said Pokemon to glare at the device, something that didn't go unnoticed by his new Trainer. He paused, looking contemplative, before he put the pokeball next to the other ones. Taking a deep breath, a shudder going through his body as he steeled his nerves, he summoned the courage to slowly outstretch his arm towards Pikachu, who gave him a wary look of confusion. Neither saw the small but proud smile on Samuel Oak's face.

"You didn't exactly put any effort into hiding how much you hate your pokeball. I promised that we were gonna do this as equals, so I won't force you into it. This way, you can leave me anytime you want _and_ I won't release you. What it means is that nobody would be able to catch you again because you would still have the pokeball's imprint on you," the ten year-old said, his expression sincere, but still looking somewhat discomforted.

Pikachu's eyes widened, obviously not expecting that. After about half a minute of the raven-haired boy patiently waiting for his starter to decide, the yellow mouse nodded and climbed onto Ash's shoulder. His body tensed slightly, but he remained composed as ever.

Prof. Oak watched proudly from the side, "You've gotten better."

"Practice makes perfect," Ash quoted his mentor's favorite line, causing him to chuckle.

"Yes, but young whippersnappers like yourself tend to rush into things, foolishly heedless of the advice given to you by those more experienced," he said, a nigh-unnoticeable teasing tone in his voice.

"And old men like yourself tend to be reactionary fence-sitters who complain about young whippersnappers, preaching about their outdated ways. All bark and no bite. We can simply agree that each have their own faults and leave it at that," Ash responded calmly.

The Professor's lips twitched upward, "Fair enough." Neither of them had been serious though. Well, not about each other. His mentor was a flexible, adaptable man who had the will and wisdom to readily change his previous beliefs in light of new information contradicting them. Meanwhile, Ash himself was a collected, perceptive and circumspect ten year-old, far more than most ten year-olds. Perhaps they both did it to remind each other not to adopt the less healthy habits of those their age.

The son of Delia Ketchum could freely admit that he was close to his teacher, almost like the father he had never had. The old man had taught him many things beyond just the scope of Pokemon training and had been a vital element of his life ever since he had taken him under his wing.

Ash could almost say the same thing about his grandson, Gary Oak, who the Professor had also educated with the permission of his peer's mother. However, from early on they had all noticed his interest in Pokemon research, preferring to watch his grandfather's experiments to watching Pokemon battles on TV. Ash believed the only reason he had chosen to start as a Trainer was due to their friendly rivalry, which had served as a motivator during their studies. But while Gary beat him in pure academics, he definitively triumphed over his friend in tactics and sheer cunning. Though neither of them was without the other qualities.

But all that had changed eight months ago, when _she_ had died. He dispelled the bad thoughts from his head like earlier that morning. It hadn't been his fault, everybody said. Everybody but Gary... and himself.

Still, Ash often wondered if one of the reasons for Prof. Oak tutoring him was out of desire for some form of a legacy. While a Pokemon researcher first and foremost, he had also been an exceptionally powerful battler. He didn't regret becoming a professor, but he wouldn't be surprised if a small part of him longed to leave something behind as a testament to his years as a Trainer.

Gary Oak would become his legacy to Pokemon research and Ash Ketchum his legacy to Pokemon training. The raven-haired boy wouldn't resent him for it. Humanity was often obsessed with the concept of eternity and outliving their natural limits.

He noticed Pikachu switch his gaze between, rather bewildered by their exchange. The sight eased his nerves somewhat, glad that they were slowly getting more comfortable with each other.

"Ash, I have something for you, Wait here, please." Prof. Oak walked out of the main lab before entering one of the adjacent rooms. Less than a minute later, he came out with something big in his hands. When he came closer, Ash realized that the object was a large, military-style rucksack, with multiple pockets. It was a little worn, a few scratches here and there, but undoubtedly functional.

"I want you to have this. It has plenty of space and plenty of pockets. It'll serve you well, certainly better than any backpack you might have," the old man said while presenting him with the item.

The Trainer took it to examine it closer and saw that Prof. Oak was right. In terms of usability, it was definitively better than any backpack he had, but it obviously belonged, or had belonged to someone else. When he lifted his eyes up to his mentor to ask that, he was bemused and a bit alarmed to see a sad, nostalgic smile on his face and his eyes glassy. It was then that realization hit him like truck, guilt and sorrow following soon afterwards.

"It was _her's_ , wasn't it?" Though phrased like a question, it was more a statement.

"She'd have wanted you to have it. I tried giving it to Gary, but it was still too early for him," the Professor said, slight blues seeping into his voice. A part of Ash wanted to deny it, but he stayed quiet instead. "Take it, Ash. I believe it can help you in more ways than one."

The boy was silent for a few moments, staring blankly at the item that brought up his most unpleasant memories, before nodding, "Mom's gonna be waiting downstairs with my old bag and all my stuff already packed in it."

"Delia is an intelligent woman, she'll surely understand. It's best you be prepared as well as possible."

That, Ash could agree on. His mother was the most understanding person he knew. She knew when to be hard on him, when to be compassionate, and she always seemed to know the right thing to say. Yes, his mom would understand.

When the company of three went outside, they were greeted by a cheering crowd of people. On the front of it was Ash's mother herself, holding a rucksack with tears in her eyes and a sad but proud smile on her face. Just as they reached the end of the stairs, the boy was promptly engulfed in a motherly hug, causing Pikachu to jump off his shoulder.

"Oh, Ash! My baby boy, I'm so proud of you. You're finally going on your journey and starting your Pokemon training. But I'm gonna miss you so much!" she said and began sobbing into his hair.

Despite the embarrassment at his mom's public display of affection, he was quick to hug her back, knowing that she'd be lonely while he's gone. There was at least Mimey to keep her company, a Mr. Mime they found hiding near their house, who took an instant liking to Delia and began helping her with the house work. It had been a bit rough at the start, with him appearing not long after _that_ day, but fortunately, it had all worked out in the end.

"Pikachu."

Both of them looked down at the electric mouse, who was looking up at them curiously. Delia almost instantly had stars in her eyes as she bent down to pick Pikachu up and hugged him close "Oh, aren't you the cutest little thing?! Is this your starter Pokemon, dear?"

For a moment, Ash's heart stopped, afraid that the mistrustful, zap-happy Pokemon would happily zap his mother in a fit of mistrustful anger. Surprisingly, he didn't. He wasn't entirely happy either as Pikachu was obviously somewhat perturbed, though he accepted her petting without complaint. Maybe he was trying to make a positive impression on his Trainer, however unlikely.

She seemed to perk up when looking at him again, her eyes trained on his new bag, "Cool backpack, son. Very spacious. Definitely a lot bigger than this old thing."

Professor Oak smirked knowingly at him and he gave a small smile back. Yep, his mom was the best, "Yeah, we figured you'd like it. Mind helping me transfer the stuff from the old thing?"

Holding Pikachu in the crook of her right arm, she bent forward slightly to pinch his cheek, "Anything for my baby boy."

This time he blushed when the rest of the party snickered, including his starter. Composing himself, they began putting the essentials from his old rucksack into his new one, his mom explaining how to use them all the while, needlessly though. He had made sure to be as prepared as possible before departing, but Ash knew she did it out of motherly care and worry, so he just nodded along without commenting.

He didn't expect to find an item already inside it, in one of the bigger side pockets. It was a small book. After reading the title, he realized it was a manual on berries.

"This is a book on berries, what effect on Pokemon they have, which types of Pokemon prefer certain berries and so on. My wife always said that getting to a Pokemon's heart is no different than getting to a man's." his mentor said, much to the amusement of the women present. "I believe it will be quite helpful in 'sweetening the deal', so to speak, with Pokemon more reluctant to join you."

Not surprising, as Pokemon were all about survival. They led much simpler lives than humans, with food being their equivalent of money. If a newly caught Pokemon knew it would have a steady supply of nourishment by staying with the Trainer, it would be much more accepting of becoming the Trainer's charge. He stuffed the book back into the same side pocket before heaving the bag onto his back. Taking the cue, Pikachu wiggled out his mother's arms and climbed onto his shoulder.

As soon as he set his eyes on the road, the crowd parted like the Red Sea from the well-known Hoenn legend, which made him smirk internally in amusement. He looked to his mother, who was once again on the verge of crying. It hurt him deeply to see her like this, but he _needed_ to do this. It was the only way to get rid off all that's been troubling him for over half a year.

She managed to control herself enough to speak, "Be careful out there. Call me when you get to Viridian City. I know they have video phones there, so don't even _think_ on skipping out on that. Do you understand me?"

He nodded firmly before gracing her with a genuine smile, which he was aware were much rarer for him lately, "Bye, mom."

She couldn't suppress a sob and he wanted _oh so much_ to comfort her, but he knew, after all that had happened on _that day_ , that if he tried to she wouldn't let him go, no matter how much they both knew he needed this. Walking on as she looked at the ground with her hand covering her mouth and tears running down her face made his heart feel like it was being rent to pieces.

On this usual day of joy and celebration, he felt like the biggest shit in the world.

* * *

"He's too young, way too young. T-Too vulnerable. I shouldn't have let him go! I-" Delia Ketchum stopped her worried rant when Samuel Oak put a hand on her shoulder, causing her distressed gaze to turn towards him.

He fought off the urge to sigh; this wasn't going as well as he had thought, "It's the best way, Delia. Leave it be."

"I think I have a right to question this course of action," she replied bitterly, an offended scowl marring her beautiful features. "He is _my_ son!"

"Then why didn't you force him to wait another year or two before sending him off?" he asked firmly, to which she responded by looking away in shame. This time, he did sigh while sitting down on the couch in the Ketcham's living room, "It's because we both know he needs this. A mentor's words of wisdom and a mother's words of comfort can only do so much. If the boy is to be healed as much as possible from previous experiences, new experiences that could remedy them is the best, if not only solution."

The compromise was that it could also make it worse and neither of them would be physically there to help him. He didn't feel useless, but he sure as hell wasn't hunky dory with the circumstances that were forced upon them. No matter how comfortable and snug a sanctuary Pallet Town was, it would only hinder the raven-haired Trainer. Ash had to step out of his and his mother's shadow if he was to get anywhere with anything.

"And if it all goes off the deep end?" she asked quietly, so much he almost didn't hear her.

"It can go either way, but he's already on the path of recovery and only this journey might provide the necessary push to finish it. You're his mother, have faith in him."

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as she scowled even deeper than before, "I have all the faith in the world in him!" Delia seethed for a few moments before calming down suddenly, sadness overtaking her expression, "I just don't have any faith in the world."

For the sake of both Ketchums', Prof. Oak decided not to express his agreement.

* * *

 **So, this is the revised first chapter of Precedence Set. You like it? As you can see, multiple changes have been made, hopefully good ones. Watch out for the rest of 'em!**


	2. Let Me Introduce Myself

**I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

After a large breakfast that Ash had forgotten to have in his hurry, the duo made their way to the first destination on Ash's agenda, Viridian City. With a steady pace that would get them there by late tomorrow morning, the Trainer contemplated his next move.

He had already decided on taking the Pokemon Gym challenge so he could enter the Indigo League. When having a big goal, like becoming a Pokemon Master, the first thing to do is to divide it into smaller tasks or milestones. Gym Leaders were tough to beat, but they will hold back accordingly to beginners, depending on the number of badges one has. His idea was to travel across the various regions of the world and competing in the Regional Conferences that take place once every one or two years.

The Viridian City Gym, currently the closest, was out of the question on being his first for two reasons. One, it was well-known that Giovanni would not accept anyone with less than seven badges, a request the Pokemon League had granted him. Two, the gym specialized in Ground-type Pokemon, which put Pikachu in a too massive disadvantage.

The next closest town by far was Pewter City with a Rock-type Gym. On account that nearly all Kanto-native Rock-types were also Ground-types, Ash was considering skipping it and heading for the Cerulean City Gym instead, where Pikachu would be able to dominate the Water-type Pokemon. He'd have to head back along the same path either way later since the last Gym and the road to Indigo Plateau were both in Viridian City, directly south of the City of Fossils as people (rather humorously) called it.

After a few short minutes of pondering the idea in his head, he dismissed it. While not the most hardheaded decision, he figured it would be a good challenge. Samuel Oak had taught him the value of putting obstacles for oneself, creating one's own challenges. He didn't want to accomplish his first step by taking the easy way out. Even caution wasn't always an excuse for it.

Nevertheless, he had enough sense to realize that he would have to capture at least one more Pokemon, preferably a Water or Grass-type. Glancing at his starter, who had grown rather comfortable riding on his shoulder, he came to the conclusion that to beat the Rock-type Gym, he would actually _need_ to catch one of those two types. The Gym Leader would hold back, but the notion that he or she would give him an easy victory was silly. Pikachu and a Normal or Flying-type wouldn't come even close to beating it.

Bottom line, if he didn't catch a Water or Grass-type Pokemon... well, he was fucked, simple as that. He dare not utter it out loud in fear of the electric mouse shocking him for his seeming lack of certitude in him and the fact that he was still close to Pallet Town, or more precisely, his mom. Moms had a way of finding out when their children did something they didn't approve of, like swearing.

He fished out his Pokedex to search for information on the Pokemon that were known to inhabit the roads to Pewter City, hoping to find one to his tastes. With the meager level of training and experience he and his Pokemon would have by the time he reaches Pewter City, it was probably the only way to bring about success. Facts were facts and if anything had changed about Ash because of Oak's tutelage and... the Incident... it was that he had grown pragmatic.

He could barely imagine how he would have gone about it without the Professor's mentoring. Rushing like a blind Tauros, though hard for him to imagine now, seemed like a great possibility, which consequently helped him realize why the older man had decided to help him.

Strength is measured in steps, not leaps and the future belongs to those who prepare for it. That's the kind of jazz the Professor had imparted to him. Not just knowledge, but wisdom that set the foundations that would truly enable him to reach his goal.

He hoped.

* * *

About two and a half hours after entering Route 1, Ash decided to stop and begin with Pikachu's training. The clearing he chose to use was rather large, not far off the road with a stream at the other end parallel to it. Knowing he might have to coax the willful Mouse Pokemon to agree, he recounted in his mind all the strategies he had thought up along the way.

"Okay, Pikachu, it's time to start training," he said as he put down his rucksack.

Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and looked up at him expectedly.

"The first Gym we're going to face uses Rock-type Pokemon. Since it's very likely that all of them will also be Ground-types, your electric attacks will be ineffective." He had to resist the slight urge to pat the Pokemon's head when his ears lowered cutely in apprehensiveness. "Luckily, there is a way around that weakness. The first thing I'm going to do is teach you the move Iron Tail. It's a powerful Steel-type attack that's relatively easy to pick up."

What he didn't say was that it would probably be easier than most for Pikachu to learn it. When he had read on Volt Tackle while browsing Pikachu's moveset on his Pokedex, he learned that the species' tail muscles were the strongest in its body. In fact, their build was similar to the human jaw muscles, the strongest human muscles based on weight, able to exert great strength while remaining flexible.

The reason it's tied to a Pikachu's ability to perform Volt Tackle is because there is an organ in the large rectangular part of their tail that enables them to. It's that organ that serves as a lightning rod during thunderstorms and is connected to the pouches in Pikachu's cheeks. It absorbs electricity from outside of its body and directs it towards the pouches to be stored. The connection is turned on when performing Volt Tackle, which allows the Pokemon to maintain the steady stream of Electric-type energy across its body while running at near-maximum speed.

To protect it, there is a denser layer of muscles around it. Looking at the yellow rodent's tail, the raven-haired boy could see a slight bulge in the rectangular chunk of the appendage.

He had to admit that Pikachu had a fairly large variety of moves he was capable of learning, especially for his size and evolutionary stage. Several of them would be quite effective against the Pewter City Gym Leader, but it hadn't been particularly hard to settle for Iron Tail.

Pikachu narrowed his eyes at him, having a somewhat excited glint at the prospect of learning a new move (a real basher move at that), but also of lingering distrust. He still wasn't sold on this whole having a Trainer idea and most likely wouldn't be for a while. At least this guy seemed decent.

He gave his Trainer the universal sign of 'gimme something and I'll do it'.

Ash sighed internally, the Pokemon knew how to drive a hard bargain, which he could respect in all honesty. The little poke-devil was aware that he would have to comply to his wishes, considering that Pikachu was his only Pokemon at the moment. The two weren't exactly friends yet.

He looked around the clearing before spotting a cluster of trees and bushes with a random assortment of berries.

"How about this? _If_ you train with me _and_ help me catch a Pokemon or two, I'll take your favorite berries from among those trees," he pointed at said trees "and your favorite berries that I have in my backpack and round them up together for you to eat. How's that?"

Pikachu's eyes sparkled as he licked his lips before turning towards Ash and nodding. Feeling a mild flood of relief, the Trainer stood up. He went towards the stream, having noticed the riverside to be a little rocky, and picked up a rock close to the size of the large part of Pikachu's tail. He took out some rope and carried the items towards his starter Pokemon.

He held up the rock "I'll tie this rock to your tail, which you'll have to lift up and down repeatedly until I tell you to stop. Okay?"

Pikachu looked uncertain, even slightly pouting, before sighing and presenting the appendage to him. Ash went to work and after half a minute he was done. He had tied the stone so that it was hanging off the tail. Pikachu looked a little despondent at the effort he would have to pull off.

He felt a hand on his head, causing him to look up at Ash's firm, but not cold gaze "There's only benefits in this for you. You learn a powerful new move _and_ you get a meal consisting of some of your favorite berries. But nothing in life is free and both of us are gonna have to bust our chops, you physically and I mentally. I'm the general and you're the soldier. Got it?"

Realizing he was right, the Pokemon nodded with a stronger sense of determination and began the exercise. So far, Ash has proven to be sensible enough and he didn't really have a reason to doubt him, though trust was a whole other issue.

After a while, the rookie Trainer called for him to stop. Pikachu gladly relaxed his tail and exhaled in relief, while Ash untied the rock. Having finished, the boy searched his backpack and took out a small jar filled with several blue-colored berries and the Prof. Oak's berry book. He opened the jar, took out two of them and put them in front of the electric mouse.

"These are Oran Berries. I don't know if they're one of your favorites, but they help in regaining strength and accelerating a Pokemon's recovery speed. Eat these and rest for a few minutes because we're not done yet for today," he said and opened the first page of the book. "This is a book on berries. It contains pictures of them so just shift through the pages and point out to me the ones you prefer so I can start picking them." He displayed the textbook to Pikachu, who eagerly agreed.

After looking through the book, Ash found out his starter Pokemon liked the Oran Berries he gave along with Pecha and Chesto Berries. He put the book back in the bag and went to the riverside where there was a rather large pile of small sized rocks he had collected during Pikachu's work out.

Five minutes later the raven-haired boy addressed him again "Now for the next exercise. I'll be throwing these stones at you from a distance. Your job is to knock them aside with your tail. This way we'll improve your ability to strike with it and your precision. Alright?" he said.

Unlike Pokemon like Aggron or Steelix, Pikachu couldn't rely solely on his physical strength to create the force to significantly damage many of his potential opponents. He would have to use his speed and acrobatic prowess to gain the momentum behind the attack. Ash was already planning a training regimen to increase his starter's physical skills.

When he explained it to his Pokemon, he grumbled a little but conceded his point. It was somewhat humbling for Pikachu to hear that, but he was understandably gratified when his Trainer reaffirmed the fact that he was _still_ a bad-ass by calling him one of the fastest and nimblest Pokemon on land.

Ash occasionally shouted encouragement, praises and corrections as he threw the rocks at or close to Pikachu. By the end of the spectacle, both of them were panting a little, but with proud grins on their faces, though the human's was more reserved. While proud of Pikachu for hitting almost all the stones he threw, it also raised some questions in his mind about it. The practiced skill and agility and the remarkable reflexes in such a young specimen was... intriguing.

His instincts told him it was linked to his obvious independence and trust issues. He didn't know what to make of it, partly because he trusted his head more than his gut. Pikachus are rather easily frightened and prefer to not engage in combat, but were also friendly and mischievous in general.

Ultimately, he saw no point in making a big deal of it. He respected Pikachu's privacy since he himself would be very hesitant on revealing the details of _that day_ to anyone. He even commended the Mouse Pokemon's cautious approach to things. They both understood that to trust blindly is to fall flat on your face and then some.

It appears there was something more they could relate to than just a mutual desire to get stronger. It was oddly soothing for Ash.

He went to the trees and picked one of each of his starter's favorite berries, went back and put them down for him to feast on.

"Cha!" the rodent delightedly squealed before digging in.

Figuring that they had done enough training for now, Ash searched around for any interesting Pokemon to catch. Frankly, he hadn't found any that held his particular interest on his Pokedex. Though he had thought about catching a Mankey, he wasn't sure he could handle a high-strung Pokemon like that. They were known for being rather recalcitrant to Trainers they didn't respect and Ash was in no hurry to test that.

"Gruu. Gruu."

He looked towards where the noise came from and saw a Pidgey land several meters away from him and peck the ground in search for worms. Though Pidgey itself wasn't particularly powerful, even for standards among first stage evolutions, it's final form, Pidgeot, can be a regrettable opponent.

Despite not truly being necessary, he pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the bird.

 **Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back.**

Deciding it was worth it, he called to his starter "Hey, Pikachu! I think I found our first travelling companion. I'm gonna need you to weaken it before I can catch it."

"Pika!" he said and got in a battle ready stance. He might as well indulge Ash as well as himself. He hadn't fought in a while now and he missed the thrill of battle. Oh, and because his Trainer gave him good chow.

Their voices caused Pidgey to notice them and, seeing Pikachu's stance, rose into the air to get away. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Ash quickly yelled out his first command "Let's go, Pikachu! ThunderShock!"

With a loud cry of it's name it released a small but strong current of electricity towards the tiny bird. Unfortunately, it's keen eyes and awareness of their intentions allowed it to see the attack coming and dodge it before flapping away. However, that wasn't the end of misfortune for the duo as the electric current kept going and promptly struck the stream.

"Shit!" Ash worriedly yelled. Knowing there was a great chance it hit a Pokemon, he immediately searched his bag for a potion and a couple of Oran Berries to take care of whatever Pokemon the move may have hit.

Just as he took out the items, something jumped out of the water and landed in front of them, with a few burn marks on it's person and a scowl on it's face. The raven-haired boy's eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the Pokemon. How could he not? He had seen one of it's kind in Oak's lab before it was taken that very morning.

It was a Squirtle.

"Squirtle!Squirt, Squirtle!" it angrily cried while pointing at them. Worried it might react violently, which looked quite probable, the rookie Trainer immediately tried to pacify the upset Pokemon.

"I'm sorry about that! We weren't aiming for you, honestly." Ash managed to composed himself when Squirtle raised a seemingly unimpressed (and non-existent) eyebrow "I was actually trying to capture a Pidgey, but it dodged Pikachu's attack and struck the stream by accident," he said, his calm face showing a degree of apprehension as his partner nodded almost frantically.

Squirtle narrowed its eyes in what looked like inquiry, but was really a gesture of contemplation. It had seen everything and knew it had been an accident. Matter of fact, it had observed them train and interact the entire time they were there and it had aroused his curiosity. Even though the yellow mouse had been somewhat distant at first, just less than a day of training, not to mention the provision of food, had convinced him to notably warm up and form a semblance of a bond with the human.

Having thought it through, it smirked before pointing a Pikachu then at itself, confidently crying its name twice.

Ash looked confused for a moment before realization hit him. He couldn't help but smirk a bit. He could have never predicted that a Squirtle would appear when he and Pikachu done guffed in capturing a _Pidgey_ of all things. If he played this right, he might just get one of the original Kanto starters on his team after all.

"You wanna fight?" he asked the turtle, who nodded "Alright, but under one condition," he said, catching the Water-type Pokemon's attention "Whether you win or lose, if you are too tired or injured to resist capture, I _will_ capture you. Deal?"

Surprisingly to the both of them, it nodded almost immediately, saying it's name self-assuredly a couple times.

"Alright then. Pikachu, ThunderShock," he yelled.

Pikachu obeyed immediately, firing the electrical current at the turtle Pokemon. Squirtle quickly rolled to the side to avoid it and released a small host of bubbles that headed rapidly towards the Electric-type Pokemon.

"Focus your energy into your tail and batter 'em," Ash commanded.

Like with the exercise, Pikachu nimbly swung his appendage and destroyed the bubbles one after another. Right before it destroyed the last two, however, the tail glowed with a slightly white sheen, astounding both Ash and Pikachu.

Unfortunately, in his surprise, he was too late to notice Squirtle charging head first towards Pikachu. The raven-haired boy cursed himself as his partner was sent flying back several feet. It was such a rookie mistake. Even though that's technically what Ash was, it was still embarrassing.

His starter managed to get back to his feet quickly as Squirtle went for another go.

With his mind focused on the battle now, he gave his next order "Use Quick Attack and go under him!"

The electric mouse sprinted forward, letting off a white streak which signified the speed of the move. He quickly traveled underneath the turtle Pokemon, who stumbled due to his momentum without hitting anything. The Trainer capitalized on the opening.

"Pikachu, use ThunderShock!"

"PikaCHU!" he cried, unleashing the Electric-type attack. It hit Squirtle, causing him to shout out in pain.

"Now use Agility and knock it back with your tail," Ash yelled.

Pikachu obeyed and zig-zaged as he swiftly approached the rising Pokemon, gaining even more speed as he did so. The tail glowed slightly again, though obviously not close to being finished yet. The attack landed and Squirtle was knocked back towards the stream, falling onto the riverside.

"Pokeball, go!" Ash took one of his pokeballs and threw it at the downed Pokemon.

However, before the device could hit him, the pokeball was struck by a torrent of water, sending it back towards the raven-haired trainer, who caught it, despite his shock. Looking towards where it came from he, to his surprise, saw several Poliwag, Psyduck and Marill standing by the stream with angry expressions on their faces. Their scowls were aimed at Pikachu at the moment and they all suddenly took deep breaths, their bodies becoming more bloated.

Understanding their clear intentions, Ash worriedly yelled at his partner and began running towards him at the same time all of the Water-type Pokemon fired their Water Gun attack.

Pikachu saw it coming, but he was too tired to move quickly enough and the combined Water Guns made the attack have a significantly wider range. He closed his eyes, preparing himself for the inevitable pain, but instead felt arms wrap around and the sensation of flying before rolling around. He opened his eyes and saw that Ash was holding him, crouched several feet away from the point Pikachu was standing just a second ago.

Ash had successfully saved Pikachu by diving and grabbing him before going into a roll to avoid the attack.

He didn't understand why the Pokemon were so aggressive. Not only that, but they prevented him from catching Squirtle when they knocked back his pokeball. His eyes widened as he came to the conclusion.

"That's it," he said and anger and annoyance soon flooded him "Hey! We won against Squirtle fair and square! I told it the condition and it accepted it! You have no business interfering or attacking us!" Ash yelled at the gathered Pokemon. Pikachu could have seriously been hurt by their combined move.

Said Pokemon yelled back angrily and started preparing another combined Water Gun. Ash groaned in his head and got ready to dodge.

"SQUIRTLE!"

The gathered Water-type Pokemon stopped their attack and looked startedly at Squirtle, who had an angry look on his face.

The sole Pokemon and the group started speaking back and forth. After a few times of that, the group looked resigned, but sad while Squirtle's eyes softened before it spoke once more, cheerfully this time and held a thumbs up. The Poliwag, Marill and Psyduck gave him sad smiles before jumping back into the stream.

The turtle looked at the two and, having seen what Ash did, was convinced more than ever that it had made the right choice. It held a thumbs up at them this time, happily saying his name.

"Thank you for that, Squirtle," Ash said sincerely, throwing the same pokeball from earlier. It lightly hit the Water-type on the head and absorbed him in a red light. The pokeball pinged instantly. Ash walked over to it and picked it up with a modest smile on his face.

"Great job, Pikachu. It looks like we got ourselves a new companion." He looked down at the yellow mouse still in his arms. He was surprised by how long the Pokemon was allowing him to hold him. It wasn't long ago that Pikachu was being a smart-ass, constantly looking anywhere but his face.

Pikachu responded by jumping down and letting out a happy cry, actually looking up at him with an open expression of glee.

"So you're finally looking at my face, huh? Already gave up staring at empty space? I mean, it looked like a _really_ fun thing to do," Ash said with a perfect, sarcastic deadpan, an eyebrow raised in thinly concealed amusement.

The Electric-type just gave him a weak glare, knowing his Trainer didn't mean any offense. Hey, what else can promote more trust between two... individuals... than a life-and-death situation (an exaggeration, yes, but Pikachu likes the dramatic effect).

The boy snorted before releasing his newly caught Pokemon from the pokeball. Ash was quite eager to officially meet the new addition.

"Squirtle," the Water-type said as soon as it appeared. It didn't look overly tired, but the battle had undoubtedly taken its toll.

Ash pulled out his Pokedex and aimed it at Squirtle.

 **Squirtle, the Turtle Pokemon. Due to its shell's rounded shape and grooves, this Pokemon can swim at high speeds. When it retracts its long neck into its shell, it squirts out water with vigorous force. This Squirtle is male and has the ability Torrent. He knows the moves Bubble, Water Gun, Tackle, Withdraw, Skull Bash and Rapid Spin. He also has the egg moves Aqua Ring and Brine, neither of which have been unlocked yet.**

Taking a closer look at Squirtle, Ash guessed that his rather impressive assortment of moves, for a newly acquired starter at least, wasn't too unexpected. Though young, he was older and appeared more experienced than the starters Prof. Oak gave to newbies. All in all, the raven-haired Trainer was satisfied "That's a good moveset. We'll start training tomorrow and see your potential moves. You'll be an excellent match against the Rock-types that the Pewter City Gym Leader uses." he said and Squirtle cheered at the news.

Ash turned to his other companion "That doesn't mean you won't fight either, Pikachu. Gym Leaders almost never use less than two Pokemon. Though I'll do my best to train and guide you in battle, the likelihood of Squirtle winning two matches in a row, even with the type advantage, isn't really great."

Pikachu perked up while Squirtle crossed his arms and actually pouted at him.

"This is not a jab at your strength, Squirtle. They are Gym Leaders for a reason; they're aware of their preferred type's strengths and weaknesses and are prepared to fight Pokemon with such advantages over them. It's not gonna be easy by any means because it's _not_ _meant_ to be," he tried to placate his newest addition a bit more firmly than intended, a slight and involuntary twinge of fear having struck his heart at the Pokemon's expression.

He berated himself internally for still not getting over his _issue_ , even after six months and all the effort put forth. Especially today.

Thankfully, neither Pokemon noticed anything as the Tiny Turtle Pokemon conceded his reasoning and just smiled good-naturedly, rubbing the back of his head. Ash smiled at them before speaking once more "If I have any say in it, both of you will become strong enough to take any Gym by yourselves, but that's not gonna be today, tomorrow or even in a year. It'll take time and training to reach that level. Okay?" His two Pokemon nodded joyously.

Ash looked up at the Sun. Figuring by its position, he'd guess it was about one o' clock. It's a skill his mentor had taught him, deeming it simple, but important enough to teach it to a nine year-old kid who was aspiring to be a Pokemon Trainer.

"Alright, it's time for lunch. If we finish quickly we might be able to reach Viridian City by twilight. As promised, Pikachu, you'll get what you want. Of course, you'll get your fair share, Squirtle. Just show me the berries that you like most."

After about fifteen minutes, they were back on the road, with Squirtle back in his pokeball. Ash moved to the right side of the path as it slowly started turning into a short cliff, about nine feet above the riverside. He was checking the list of moves Squirtle was capable of learning when he was startled by a high-pitched scream.

He quickly ran towards the source, Pikachu clinging tightly to his shoulder, letting off a few sparks from his cheeks. As they broke through the bush, they stumbled upon an orange-haired girl standing by the stream being attacked by a small flock of Spearows.

And Ash promptly froze.

He couldn't help it. With the earlier situation with Squirtle combined with this scene, his brain forced him to recall the events of _that_ day, the day The Incident happened, whether he wanted to or not.

 _Fire_

 _Fire and pain_

 _The smell of poisonous fumes that kept him awake, that denied_ _him the sweet relief of unconsciousness... and prolonged his suffering_

Pikachu looked at his Trainer when he didn't continue on or order him to help the girl and was shocked by the blank, but frightened gaze that his face had adopted. He even felt small shivers wrack the boy's body, before Ash suddenly grabbed his left shoulder. The Mouse Pokemon had never seen him so... skittishly unsettled and, possibly through that bond mumbo jumbo they established that Pikachu normally didn't believe in, he felt frightened too.

He turned his attention back to the girl when she released a yelp due to one of the Spearows having grabbed the high-ponytail her hair was fixed up in. He was just about to step in, Ash or not, but it proved unnecessary when a ferocious expression crossed her face. She swung her foot in an arch, clipping two of the wild birds.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She pulled back her fist and punched the Spearow with her hair in it's beak, making it let go. Despite this, there were still a little over a dozen of the bird Pokemon.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a shrunken pokeball. She enlarged and threw it, releasing her Pokemon in a beam of white light.

"Starmie, use Ice Beam," the girl ordered.

The starfish Pokemon obeyed and released a beam of icy energy at the flock. About half of them were hit, though none of them truly went down. Nonetheless, it did manage to scare them off and make them fly back to the forest.

The orange-haired girl huffed before thanking her Starmie and recalling it. Having been brought back to reality by the girl's earlier yelp, Ash chose that moment to make his appearance as he ran towards her.

"I saw what happened! Are you okay?" he asked shakily, still feeling the emotional turbulence from his episode.

She looked at him for a moment and huffed, though more out of tiredness than irritation "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a few scratches, nothing to worry about."

He nodded, taking her word for it and not seeing any worrisome injuries himself. He composed himself before speaking again "Ash Ketchum. What were you doing here anyway?"

Misty sighed as she pointed at a fishing rod near the edge of the stream "Misty. Well, I was _trying_ to catch some Water-type Pokemon before those Spearows delivered a broadside on me."

Ignoring the unfamiliar phrase, the younger Pokemon Trainer noticed how she seemed to about say her surname, but had chosen not to. A relative of a celebrity maybe... or someone infamous. Those were usually the reasons someone didn't give their last name, but it was not his place to pry. Just as Ash was about to say something else, he was interrupted.

"Spe-e-earo-ow, Spe..."

All three of them looked down at a lone Spearow slowly rising from the ground, but it was obvious it didn't have enough strength stand up, let alone fly away.

Ash whistled, impressed. "Damn." He wondered if Misty could push down castle gates with a kick like that. Or snap a man's neck. That ought to be a good weapon against any possible rapists in her future.

"Thanks," she chirped cheerfully with a pleased smirk.

 _A tomboy and obviously proud of it,_ he thought, practically feeling the bead of sweet dropping down the side of his head.

He fished out his Pokedex and pointed it at the downed Pokemon.

 **Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. It flaps its small wings busily to fly. Using its beak, it searches in grass for prey.**

The boy looked at the bird Pokemon on the ground in thought. As it was, it was an easy target for whatever predator that comes by, even though there were very few of them in that part of the region, except for the Gyarados which keep to the water. He thought about catching it, but after looking at Misty, he concluded that it would be unfair.

"Hey, Misty. Why don't you catch this Spearow?" he asked.

She looked at him like he was an escapee from a psychiatric ward "Do you not have both your oars in the water?! Did you not see how those birdshit for brains attacked me?!"

"I'm sure it wasn't anything personal. Many Pokemon are know to be territorial," he answered factually.

She snorted in response "Doesn't mean I should invite one aboard my ship, either. Besides, I'm a Water-type Trainer."

So she preferred a single type. However, he was still adamant with his idea "So? Even Trainers of specific types usually have at least a few Pokemon of other types. I know for a fact that Lorelei of the Elite Four has at least a Stantler and a Ledyba who she has to help with finding and picking out berries."

Misty looked stunned "H-How do you know that? I'm one of her biggest fans and I had no idea."

"Prof. Oak told me once when he discussed if I ever wanted to specialize in a single type. He told me that even single type specialists, including Gym Leaders, often have at least a few other types of Pokemon," Ash answered.

That struck a cord in her, since she herself was a Gym Leader, not that she would tell Ash yet, or ever. She had actually already known about type specialists using other Pokemon, it's just that she had been determined to only use Water-type Pokemon. But looking at the injured Spearow, she felt sympathy well within her, like water gushing from a hole in the ship. It probably hadn't been personal.

She sighed as she pulled out an empty pokeball and tossed it at Spearow. It was absorbed in a red light and, after it shook three times, the pokeball pinged.

"Kudos," Ash said with a polite smile.

"Thanks. A freshly caught Spearow," she said as she picked up the ball.

After being introduced to his mouse companion, and gushing over him, Misty turned back to the raven-haired boy "Well, it's been fun, but it's time to weigh anchor. I just need to get my bi-IIIIKE! FUCK," she screamed.

Ash quickly followed the trajectory of her sight and soon understood her dilemma. Not only was the bike frozen, it was in pieces. From the looks of it, she must have set her bike next to the road, on higher ground than the riverside. Starmie's Ice Beam must have hit it, encasing it in ice, and it fell over, breaking into many pieces when it hit the ground.

He calmly watched her vent for a few moments before speaking up with his usual level-headed tone "It's just a bike, Misty. You can always get a new one."

She snapped her head towards him, annoyance clear like daylight "Yeah and cause of that, we should just freeze our bikes and drop them down cliffs whenever the hell we feel like it. Oh, I've also heard that money grows on trees. That way, we can buy all the bikes and shit we want," she said derisively.

Ash took a step back with a small scowl forming on his still composed visage. If this girl didn't appreciate his commentary then who was he to keep delivering them.

Finally realizing what she said, the orange-haired girl immediately turned regretful. She had been incredibly rude to Ash when he had only been trying to help _and_ convinced her to catch a Pokemon she originally didn't want. God, she had acted like one of her sisters of all people. She sighed in shame "I'm sorry. I was just bent out of shape by the Spearow attack and my bike getting destroyed. I really didn't mean to gibe."

Seeing the sincerity on her face and hearing the shame in her voice, he saw no point in holding it against her. He gave her a small smile "It's okay. I know it's been slightly rough for you in the past ten minutes."

"Really? Thanks." Misty perked up near-instantly, but her face quickly turned rather sour again "I'm still without a bike. How am I supposed to travel now?"

"Why not walk?" he asked. Long walks shouldn't be a problem for her legs. The 'freshly caught' Spearow in her pokeball served as proof.

"Cus it's kinda dull, you know, at least if you're alone. While riding a bike, there are things that take your mind off of it. The pedaling, the wind in your face, stuff like that."

Ash thought about it and didn't truly see fault in her reasoning. For now, he had the Pokedex to keep him occupied, but, eventually, he was going to read everything he had to know. Pikachu is a fairly good companion at the moment, but he doesn't exactly make for intelligent conversation (not that the little Pokemon is stupid). He looked at the somewhat older girl and considered the pros and cons of traveling with her.

She was short tempered and sarcastic, but was quick to realize her mistakes and make amends for them too. The sarcasm wasn't exactly something the raven-haired Trainer himself lacked, so he shouldn't judge.

Apart from that, her Starmie appeared to be quite powerful. Even though it held back against the flock, there had been a presence of power about it that Ash couldn't deny. If it was any indication about her prowess as a Water-type Trainer, she could be a great help in training Squirtle.

Seeing more benefits, he went for pro "How about you travel with me?"

Her eyebrows went up a little in surprise, while also slightly impressed by his boldness "No offense, Ash, you seem like a nice guy who knows how to keep an even keel, but why would I wanna do that?" They were acquaintances at best and that was stretching it.

"Well, if you think that a ten year-old like me has some underhanded ulterior motive or hidden agenda then, by all means, travel by yourself on foot," he said with a small smirk, though his tone made it obvious he was only teasing. He usually only did it with his mom or the Professor, but there was something about her that brought it out of him, which further persuaded him that trekking with her would be interesting.

She put her arms akimbo and gave him an unimpressed glare, but soon chuckled lightly "Alright, smart-ass. I see your point. Why not? You should know I have no compunction about whooping a ten year-old's hiney, right?" He had made an excellent point truly. Traveling on foot by your lonesome would become very tedious and she couldn't go back to Cerulean City just yet.

"No shit. Although, I do have one condition."

Gazing at his suddenly serious expression, Misty felt it rather rude of him to ask her to travel together and then demand conditions. Ultimately, she saw no harm in at least hearing him out "Shoot."

"What is your last name?" As he expected, she seemed about ready to rip him a new one. He held up his hands in an attempt to keep her from doing that "I make it a point not to take things for granted, especially people and Pokemon. I won't judge, but it's also what makes me cautious. It's already quite stupid of me to travel with a complete stranger who is stronger and more experienced than me and I know you think that too. Without at least your surname, what guarantees do I have?"

Misty visibly fumed, internally screaming at the audacity of this little shit who thought he had the right to know her surname. As she gradually calmed down and began thinking it over, the judicious part of her actually agreed with him, even if he had expressed his argument very boorishly. Her strength and experience were greater than his, therefore she had little to no reason to fear him, which, in the end, made them a sort of guarantee in on themselves. Taking a deep breath and then exhaling slowly, she finally spoke up "Waterflower."

"Of the Cerulean City Gym?" Ash asked, to which she just looked away. When she turned her gaze back at him, to her astonishment, he just nodded before speaking "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable revealing it, but," she saw him reach for his left shoulder before he stopped himself "I've learnt it the very hard way that you can never be too careful." He lowered his head while he put on his backpack that he had taken off during their conversation. When he looked up at her again, she became even more surprised by the pain, the firmness, the intelligence _,_ the whole maelstrom of other emotions in his eyes and, perhaps even more, the way he skillfully reigned it all in "Maybe someday I'll tell you precisely how."

He looked up at the Sun the same way he did earlier "If we go now, we'll reach Viridian City by tomorrow morning."

A part of the orange-haired girl wanted to be miffed, and she still was, but it was overshadowed by curiosity and a considerable amount of compassion she felt towards him for whatever traumatic event/s he went through. Such eyes, at such a young age, can be gained no other way. She quickly packed her stuff and both of them continued on the road to Viridian City.

* * *

"Squirtle, Water Gun," Ash ordered.

The turtle Pokemon fired a powerful torrent of water from his mouth, aiming it at Pikachu, who was standing across from him.

Pikachu swiftly dodged using Quick Attack and fired a moderately powerful ThunderShock back.

"Use Rapid Spin to deflect it," Ash yelled.

Squirtle managed to successfully divert the move by withdrawing into his shell and spinning rapidly. Pikachu continued using Quick Attack and ran circles around his teammate before heading straight for him with his tail glowing a noticeable white sheen.

Ash smiled lightly in joy and called out his next command "Propel yourself into the air with Water Gun!"

Squirtle obeyed and fired the attack towards the ground right beneath him, causing his body to be propelled upwards.

"Good, now use Bubble! Pikachu, you're almost done! Destroy the bubbles with your tail!"

Both Pokemon followed his command. The Water-type Pokemon fired a barrage of bubbles, while the Electric-type focused his energy into his tail and began striking them like ping-pong balls. Close to the end, it shone brighter, signalling to Ash how close Pikachu was to learning Iron Tail.

"Use Bubble again, Squirtle! Pikachu, try and maintain it!"

The Pokemon repeated their previous actions. Unfortunately, while he was able to maintain the attack for the several first bubbles, Pikachu's tail turned back to normal for the rest of them. The three of them sighed in disappointment. However, they heard clapping coming from the side. They turned their heads to see Misty sitting on a log, clapping her hands.

"Not bad, you three. Not bad at all, especially you, Pikachu. Considering that you just started learning Iron Tail yesterday, coming so close in completing it today ain't nothing to scoff at," she praised.

The two Pokemon rubbed the back of their heads as their Trainer just nodded in acknowledgement, accepting her compliment with grace.

"Thanks, Misty," Ash responded while his Pokemon did the same thing, though neither of the humans understood it.

It was early the next morning. The group had spent the night and were currently situated in a small clearing around two hours from Viridian City. After leaving Misty's fishing spot, she had given him a bit of the cold shoulder. The rookie Trainer had expected it, so he hadn't fussed over it. However, she had made obvious effort to show him that she wasn't as bitter as he might have thought she was, on the grounds that she had willingly struck up conversations with him. What had made it easier for her to get over the issue was that she had had a choice, as Ash hadn't actually forced her to reveal her last name.

Though Ash had already suspected it, the previous afternoon had revealed to him one of Misty's eccentricities. She was partial to naval idioms and phrases as well as metaphors and terms connected to the sea, boats and such. The most notable example is her using port and starboard instead of left and right. It sometimes made it a little hard to understand the meaning behind the metaphors, analogies and terms, but it was only a minor problem.

Although the orange-haired girl being a Gym Leader did alleviate his worries a little, as he had already told her, he made it a point not to take things for granted. Who knew why she left Cerulean City? It might have been the paranoid side of him talking, but if he had had just a bit more of it when he was younger... the fate of that day could have been avoided.

Still, it wouldn't do for him to jump to conclusions either and was adamant not to make things tense between them.

Ash turned to speak to his starter "You're almost done. The only thing you need to do is learn to maintain the Steel-type energy in your tail, which is the easy part. As for you, Squirtle, I've found two moves for you to learn. We'll start today. The attack I want you to learn first is Facade."

His statement confused all three of his companions and Misty, being the only one who could speak his language, voiced it "Why Facade of all moves?"

"Because Grass and Electric-types are very effective against him, which are the two types that most often and easily inflict status conditions. Grass-types are often Poison-types as well and they like to use spore based attacks, while Electric-types can easily paralyze at both close range and from a distance. When that happens, Facade becomes twice as strong, giving Squirtle a greater chance to win," Ash said.

She blinked in surprise "That's, that's actually a pretty good idea, when you look at it from that point."

The raven-haired boy smirked "My mom is tolerant and loving, but I don't think she would stand for raising a fool. While we're on that, after you're done learning Iron Tail, we will start working on teaching you Light Screen, Pikachu. No offense, but keep in mind that stamina and resilience aren't skills your species excels at."

The electric mouse nodded, acknowledging his trainer's point. He knew that his kind was physically fragile in comparison to many, if not most other Pokemon.

"Oh, it just occurred to me I haven't scanned Spearow yet," Misty said as she took out its pokeball and tossed it into the air, releasing its occupant.

The bird Pokemon looked around before its eyes fell on Misty. Instead of getting angry or something similar, it just approached her trainer, who lowered her hand palm up and Spearow jumped on it. She brought the bird onto her lap and started petting it gently, causing Spearow to let out a pleased coo at her actions. Misty smiled and brought out her own Pokedex to scan the new addition to her team.

 **This Spearow is female and has the ability Keen Eye. She knows the moves Peck, Leer, Growl, Aerial Ace, Pursuit and Agility. She also possesses the egg moves Quick Attack and Tri Attack, of which only the former has been unlocked.**

"Wow. You're a strong little thing, aren't you?" she cooed at her newest Pokemon who puffed her chest in pride and satisfaction.

They spent the next several hours in the clearing. Pikachu repeated the yesterday's exercises and had come extremely close to mastering Iron Tail. He spent the rest of the training session doing some physical exercises Ash had assigned to him.

Squirtle had less luck, not making much progress in learning Facade by the end of the session, but succeeded in surrounding himself in a vague, but notable light orange glow. He was happy enough with his progress since his had Trainer emphasized that the slight glow showed that he had done well in the time frame. Ash figured that he would be done by the day after tomorrow.

They reached the city by three and a half P.M., having made one final stop for a lunch break. They immediately went for the Pokemon Center which, luckily, Misty knew where it was. After entering the rather huge building, they were greeted by an empty room with the only other occupants being the resident Nurse Joy and one of her Chansey.

Frankly, neither Ash nor Misty found the empty waiting room odd. Due to its position of being next to the only road in Kanto that leads to the Indigo Plateau and possessing the toughest Gym in the region, Viridian City had both the biggest drop and rise in visitors during the year. In the spring, when the Kanto Regional Championship takes place, the city is overflowing with visitors and tourists, but throughout the rest of the year, the number of visitors is among the lowest in both the Johto and Kanto regions.

With the Indigo League having finished in the middle of April, now being early June, it had been nearly two months since the Championship. Almost all Trainers were in cities like Cerulean, Saffron or Celadon at the moment, making it understandable why the medical facility in Viridian was empty.

"Hello, this is the Viridian City Pokemon Center. How may I be of service?" Nurse Joy asked with a polite and pleasant smile.

"We want you to check our Pokemon, please. We'd also like to request lodging for the night as well as qualification for the Pokemon League just for me," Ash answered courteously.

She pulled out a small tray as a couple of Chansey brought a trolley "Certainly. Put your pokeballs here, please. I'll need your Pokedex, young man, if you want to register."

They put the pokeballs on the tray while Pikachu jumped onto the cart and Ash handed her his Pokedex.

"I'll be over there by the videophones if either of you need me. I have to make a few calls."

After several minutes of talking to his mother, who kept saying how proud she was that he got to Viridian City in less than two days, and Prof. Oak, who grinned like a loon since he won a wager with Gary, which depended whether the aspiring Pokemon Trainer would catch a Pokemon on his first day or not, he and his new human companion waited for their Pokemon.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long and Ash decided to take a short rest and have one final training session in one of the field near the Center, designed specifically for Pokemon Trainers, before hitting the sack early. Tomorrow was a new day, hopefully it would be just as interesting as today had been.

* * *

 **What do you think, huh? I certainly believe it's an improvement over the second chapter of 'Power Isn't Prowess'. Very similar, not all that much has changed.**

 **You've seen a bit more of this new version of Ash Ketchum. His strengths, his faults, his _past_. The Incident will be revealed soon enough but not for the next few chapters.**

 **The second organ being necessary for Volt Tackle was actually darkfire1220's idea. He used it in his story Challenger so the credit goes to him. The organ being positioned in the tail and that it serves as a lightning rod is mine, however.**

 **The main inspiration and reason for what I believe is an improvement in my writing is actually the Naruto story Team 8, the most favored Naruto story on the website. Props to S'TarKan.**

 **Just to be certain, there is no romance between Ash and Misty and there won't be.**

 **That's all, folks!**


	3. Hard Metal Vs Heavy Rock

**I own Pokemon... NOT!**

 **Edited: 15/6/2016 (just a couple of corrections)**

* * *

Hard Metal Vs Heavy Rock

"Staryu, Water Gun!"

"You too, Squirtle!"

The two Water-types each fired the same attack toward each other. Colliding in the middle, the two battled for dominance and sprayed water everywhere. Neither were willing to give an inch as their respective trainers stood behind them.

"Alright, that's enough!" Ash stepped in after half a minute.

The two Pokemon stopped their attack, panting at the exertion.

"Good job, Squirtle. You did well," he said. He then turned to Misty "Thanks for lending a hand in the training."

"No prob, Ash. My own Pokemon need to keep abreast with their training, anyway," she responded.

The group was in a clearing in Viridian Forest, training in the early afternoon. They had gotten up early, had breakfast, and left the Pokemon Center, though Misty had been - _was -_ quite reluctant. It didn't take long for Ash to discover the orange-haired girl's fear of Bug-type Pokemon, which Viridian Forest was infested with and well-known for. It was somewhat amusing watching her face turn blue when a Beedril passed close to her.

They had found the clearing shortly after entering the forest and the rookie Trainer had immediately started his Pokemon's daily training routine. Unlike the previous two days when they had focused on learning their new moves, most of today was spent on physical skills, power training and appliance of said skills in battle. Ash had asked Misty to help him, who had happily obliged.

Pikachu had finally learnt Iron Tail yesterday, though maintaining it was another issue. Today, the Mouse Pokemon had performed a regimen of physical exercises concentrated on further augmenting his speed, agility and, to a lesser degree, his stamina. Ash figured that it was best to emphasize Pikachu's strengths for the time being and focus on bolstering or covering his weak points when he had more experience under his belt. He had also practiced using Iron Tail by battering BubbleBeam attacks, courtesy of Misty's Staryu.

Meanwhile, the male Trainer had personally instructed Squirtle. The Tiny Turtle Pokemon had rehearsed Facade, achieving noticeable progress but not yet done. Afterwards, he had practiced using Rapid Spin while having two rocks tied around his shell, one at the back and the other at the front, to see if it could be used as a defensive maneuver.

To his surprise and contentment, Misty had a Chinchou and had asked it to fire Shock Wave attacks while Squirtle performed Rapid Spin. He may have defended against Pikachu's attacks yesterday, but the Mouse Pokemon had held back from using ThunderShock at near-maximum strength, which wasn't the strongest Electric-type move to begin with.

Mildly successful at the start, the Water-type had managed to effectively deflect the Shock Wave on his seventh try. Both the Trainer and the Pokemon had felt sufficiently gratified, though Misty had decided to lower their spirits by saying Chinchou was a fairly new Pokemon on her team and hadn't trained it much yet.

He had then sparred against Misty, who had used her newly caught Spearow. It was proposed by the male Trainer, saying it would be beneficial for both of them. For the orange-haired girl, she would train her new Pokemon and try to get used to a type she wasn't as proficient with. For Ash, he would learn how to better fight against naturally faster opponents and use attributes he didn't prize as much within his Pokemon.

He and the Professor had discovered that Ash was best suited for a speed and power based fighting style as he knew how to effectively combine the two qualities. Though Ash was unaware, it was precisely why Prof. Oak had given him Pikachu, since the species was among the ones that best represented the element of simultaneously having both in spades.

Though it took her a bit to get used to utilizing another type of Pokemon, the Gym Leader's experience shone through and she dominated most of their battle. On top of that, Ash had commanded Squirtle to use Facade a few times, figuring that the pressure and thrill of the fight might stimulate him into speeding up the learning process.

Power training followed behind, where Pikachu continuously fired his Thunder Shock against Chinchou's Shock Wave, while Squirtle used his Water Gun against Staryu's.

"Okay, let's take a rest and then head on out. If we stick to this schedule, we should reach Pewter City in about a week," Ash said, adjusting his Pokemon League cap, the only piece of clothing from his original set of garbs, to better look at the Sun before staring down at the map he pulled out.

His travelling partner shivered "That's still too long in my opinion," she said as she warily watched a Weedle pluck a berry.

"Then keep Spearow outside of her pokeball. She'll frighten the Bug-types from coming too close. Birds eat worms," he said, matter-of-fact as he returned Squirtle to his pokeball.

She relaxed a bit, returning all her Water-types "Well, I suppose you're right about that and, for the record, you shouldn't mention such disgusting implications to the lady on board."

"I implied nothing and you're a tomboy. You seem like the type who pulls the sail's ropes," he deadpanned.

She gave a grin that made a chill crawl up his back "Fair enough."

"Aren't you glad now that I convinced you to catch her?" the raven-haired boy asked, collecting himself after that... image.

Misty rubbed the underside of Spearow's beak, who was nestled on her shoulder "Yeah, thanks for that. She's awesome. Besides, every captain needs a parrot on her shoulder."

"Those are pirates."

"Same difference. I love all seafarers."

"Even those who steal other people's valuables?" asked Ash with a raised eyebrow, not really believing that.

She simply rolled her eyes "I'll rephrase then. I love the concept of seafaring, the very idea of marine travel. Pirates just fall under that category. It's more of an I-like-to-dress-up-like-a-pirate-for-Halloween kinda thing."

"Oh, good," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"Just saying I was worried for a moment there," he explained with a neither innocent nor openly teasing expression. She really had to ask him how he did that.

Misty scoffed "A self-proclaimed man - sorry, _kid_ \- of caution like you _not_ worried? I'd figured you were still analyzing me for weaknesses and stuff."

"Oh no, I'm already done with that."

She stared at him, not sure whether to believe him or believe he was joking "You serious or are you just screwing with me?"

This time, Ash smirked a little "Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not _screwing with you_ so I guess I'm serious."

Resisting the urge to smack the back of his head, she glared at him "I oughta beat the shit out of the ass who had the Kyogre-damned balls to fill your ten year-old blowhole with such bilge water! Who the fuck teaches a ten year-old about dirty jokes?"

The male Trainer stared at her, slightly wide-eyed with both eyebrows raised in mild astonishment. He didn't know whether she realized the (mostly amusing, even for him) hypocrisy of her own words with all the profanity she just spouted.

"A sailor?" he offered as innocently as possible.

The formidable glower she gave him was worth it.

It was nearing sunset when they decided to quarter themselves for the night in a small clearing. Ash determined it best to not have another training session, judging that Pikachu and Squirtle should first get a bit used to the already intense training regime.

As Misty prepared a fire, she noticed her traveling partner gazing towards where the Sun was setting, the sight blocked by a grove of trees, with an odd look in his eyes. If she had to guess, she'd say it was restrained longing, but also, more than anything, resignation, as if watching an old friend walk on where you couldn't follow and having made his peace with it.

She was about to ask him about it, but stopped herself, figuring Ash just liked watching the sundown and which the forest oh so rudely denied to him. The orange-haired girl realized on their very first day that the Trainer was a markedly private person or, at least, liked to keep some things about his life close to the vest. This could be one of those.

They let their Pokemon out to enjoy themselves later that evening in the light of the Moon and the campfire before unrolling their sleeping bags and retiring for the night.

* * *

After a light training session, the two re-entered the path that lead to Pewter City. Just as they reached a large, open field, Ash found a sword in front of his face.

"Are you a Trainer from Pallet Town?"

The raven-haired Trainer stared at the slightly older boy holding the katana. The preteen was wearing old-fashioned samurai armor along with a more modern belt that held several pokeballs along with the blade's sheath. In addition to that, he also carried a large net on his back, one that Ash knew was usually carried by Trainers who preferred Bug-type Pokemon.

"Who's askin'?" he answered carefully, patting his starter on the head to calm him.

The boy sheathed the katana before responding "I apologize for my abrupt entrance and the sword. You may simply call me Samurai."

"I'm Ash and, yes, I'm from Pallet Town." No way would he tell him his surname when the guy refused to even give them his real name.

The only girl stepped forward "I'm Misty from Cerulean City."

"Pleasure. The reason I was seeking you out is because I wanted to request a Pokemon battle. One of my Pokemon evolved in my last battle with a trainer from Pallet Town. I still lost due to the damage he had already received, which gave me little chance to test his capabilities. The third and last Pallet Trainer mentioned that you might provide a challenge."

"Gary?" he asked. He couldn't think of anyone else who would say that about him. Granted, Gary had never said it to his face either. The dick.

"Yes."

Ash thought about it, eventually deciding there would be no harm in it. If his Pokemon evolved then that meant it must have been decently trained. Not to mention that, outside of sparring among each other and Misty's Pokemon, which in on itself was only two days, Pikachu and Squirtle's battling experience was low to nonexistent. Or, more precisely, _his_ battling experience with them was close to nil.

He nodded "I accept your challenge."

Samurai gave him a slight bow in gratitude "Thank you. We can use the field for our battle. Does a two on two sound good?" Ash nodded. "Although, I should warn you, there is a colony of Beedrill close by so we should try not to make too much noise or disturb the trees."

Ash nodded while Misty's face paled and she frantically started looking around "What?! Are you serious?!"

"Don't worry, miss. I have a house nearby in case we are attacked," the armored boy calmly responded while walking to one side of the field "By the way, would you mind being the referee for this match?"

Though it didn't completely ease her nerves, the orange-haired girl relaxed somewhat "No, it's fine."

She took her spot in between the two battlers before raising both her hands "This will be a two on two, no substitutions battle between Ash of Pallet Town and Samurai of, ugh.. Viridian Forest! Release your first Pokemon!"

"Pikachu, go!" Ash shouted.

"Prepare yourself, Pinsir!" Samurai yelled as he threw one of his pokeballs.

Both of the Pokemon took their positions in battle-ready stances.

"A Pinsir." The raven-haired boy pulled out his Pokedex, reasonably impressed.

 **"Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokemon. It's two long pincer horns are astoundingly strong, powerful enough to easily shatter thick logs. Once they grip a foe, they won't release it until it's torn."**

"They're really rare. You must be really something to have caught one, Samurai," Ash complimented the Pokemon and it's Trainer. He truly meant it, the Pokemon was notoriously strong and difficult to defeat, and even more strenuous to handle. Samurai seemed barely older than him.

"Thank you, but compliments can be given after our battle! Pinsir, use Tackle!" he shouted.

"Dodge it, Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

Thanks to his superior speed, Pikachu easily avoided Pinsir's attack.

"Use Brick Break!" Samurai commanded.

The Stag Beetle Pokemon's right hand glowed white and it charged at the Mouse Pokemon with the move ready.

"Block it with Iron Tail!" Ash retaliated.

Pikachu's tail glowed and he swung it to intercept Pinsir's Fighting-type attack. The two clashed, creating a small shock wave from the collision, neither Pokemon giving in.

"Use Brick Break with your other hand, Pinsir!"

Ash was momentarily caught off guard as Pinsir's other hand started glowing. Thankfully, he quickly came up with a solution "Pikachu, spring off with your tail!"

Pikachu did as commanded, just in time as well as the glowing hand missed him by an inch.

"It's not going to help. Pinsir, Smack Down!" Samuria shouted.

To Ash's horror, the large Pokemon scooped up a decent-sized clump of rock and threw it at Pikachu, who could do nothing due to his airborne state. He cried out in pain when it smacked him, the move additionally causing him to hit the ground harshly.

"No, Pikachu!" the raven-haired trainer yelled in worry.

Fortunately, the yellow rodent stood up on shaky legs, having taken noticeable damage.

"What move was that?" the rookie Trainer asked, not really directing the question to either of the two people. He had never heard of such a move, despite considering himself fairly knowledgeable regarding Pokemon moves.

"Smack Down is a Rock-type move that grounds airborne opponents, thus restricting their movement. It also renders Flying-type Pokemon and Pokemon with the ability Levitate vulnerable to Ground-type moves," Misty answered.

"Pinsir is one of the rare Bug-type Pokemon who can learn Rock-type moves, so I taught him Smack Down to combat his natural disadvantage against Flying and Fire-types. Probably the same reason you taught your Pikachu Iron Tail, is it not?" Samurai supplied.

Ash gritted his teeth slightly. He was right, of course.

 _This guy's no joke,_ the Pallet Town Trainer thought. This Samurai character was obviously both perceptive and shrewd, which combined with Pinsir's hefty physical strength made the two a powerful combo. He was gonna have to use all his skill and wit to beat him.

"Pikachu, use Agility! Confuse him!" Ash ordered, knowing that speed is one of the things that Pikachu is far superior to than the Stag Beetle Pokemon.

"Try and catch him with Vice Grip, Pinsir."

Unfortunately for Samurai, Pikachu was far too swift and easily dodged all of his Pokemon's efforts to grab him. The Bug-type Pokemon, with its large body unsuited for quick, consecutive movement, soon showed signs of fatigue.

"Now, hit him with Thunder Wave!"

Pikachu released a wave electricity towards Pinsir, who was too tired to move quickly enough to avoid it. It released a cry of discomfort when the move hit, rendering it paralyzed with sparks of yellow electricity coming out of it's body.

"Pinsir!" yelled Samurai worriedly.

"Use Quick Attack with Iron Tail, Pikachu!"

The electric mouse dashed at his opponent with white streaks behind its body. His tail glowed in preparation for the attack.

"Try and block it, Pinsir! Cross your arms while using Brick Break!"

In spite of its paralyzed state, it managed to follow through with the order. Like before, a small shock wave was created due to the impact.

"Release the block and push Pikachu into the air!" Samurai shouted.

With its arms crossed, Pinsir release the block outwardly and caused Pikachu to be sent high into the air. Luckily for Ash's Pokemon, Iron Tail worked as a shield for him, taking no damage.

"Now, use Smack Down again!"

Pinsir lifted a clump of rock and threw it at its airborne opponent.

"I'm not falling for that again! Maintain Iron Tail and knock that rock back towards Pinsir, Pikachu!" Ash retaliated swiftly.

Pikachu did as ordered and, spinning head over heels, hit the flying pile of stones back towards its sender. Having been surprised by the tactic and still being paralyzed, Pinsir could do nothing as its own attack approached and struck it, efficaciously inflicting super-effective damage and causing it to let out a shriek of pain.

"Pinsir, no!"

"Pikachu, ThunderShock!"

With a powerful cry of his name, the electric mouse released a strong current of electricity at his foe.

"Wait for it, my friend!" Samurai yelled, confusing Ash.

Pinsir cried out as Pikachu's attack struck true.

"Use Revenge, now!" Samurai shouted decisively.

The raven-haired Trainer went slightly pale as Pinsir's eyes opened, a menacing glint in them as its right fist glowed a dangerous red. He knew that Revenge became a lot stronger if used immediately after taking damage.

"Quick Attack into Iron Tail again, Pikachu!" Ash yelled almost desperately, knowing that another ThunderShock was not going to stop the Stag Beetle Pokemon.

The two Pokemon charged at each other, their attacks ready. The two met in the middle of the field and their attacks collided. The two fought for dominance, giving it their all before their moves gave out and a loud explosion occurred at the point of impact.

"Pikachu!"

"Pinsir!"

When the smoke cleared, they saw that both Pokemon were lying on the ground with swirls in their eyes.

"Both Pikachu and Pinsir are unable to battle! This round is a draw," Misty declared loudly.

Both Trainers sighed resignedly before walking towards their Pokemon, congratulating them on a work well done. After Samurai returned Pinsir to his pokeball and Ash took Pikachu into his arms, they walked back to their side of the field. The raven-haired Trainer also took out a couple Oran Berries for his now conscious Pokemon.

"Sorry I couldn't win our first official battle, Pikachu," Ash said in a mix of sheepishness and sadness.

"Pi Pikachu," said the electric mouse reassuringly, happy with the outcome of his first real battle.

"Send out your next Pokemon!" Misty shouted.

"Time to battle, Squirtle!" Ash yelled as he sent out his only other Pokemon.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon called out enthusiastically, excited for the opportunity to battle.

"To the battlefront, Butterfree!" Samurai threw his pokeball into the air and released its occupant.

The Bug-type Pokemon took its position on the opposite side of the field.

"So that's the Pokemon he was talking about," muttered Ash as he pointed his Pokedex at it.

 **"Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokemon. It loves the honey of flowers and can locate flower patches that have even tiny amounts of pollen."**

"We'll go first this time! Squirtle, Bubble!" The raven-haired boy commanded.

Squirtle opened his mouth and fired a medium-sized horde of bubbles.

"Blow them away with Gust, Butterfree!" Samurai countered.

His Pokemon complied and created a gust of wind, hurling it towards the Bubble attack and easily overwhelming it. The move didn't stop there and continued on its path, striking its opponent. Squirtle managed to stay on his feet, but couldn't see anything due to the wind.

"Use Tackle!" shouted the armor-wearing boy.

"Withdraw!" Ash ordered.

Butterfree stopped its attack and charged at Squirtle, who retracted his head and limbs into his shell, rendering the Tackle attack virtually useless, having only managed to push him back a little.

"Good job, Squirtle! Use Water Gun!" Ash commanded.

"Evasive maneuvers, Butterfree!" Samurai yelled.

Squirtle fired a strong blast of water at his Bug-type opponent, who nimbly dodged that move.

"Now, Psybeam!"

Butterfree's eyes glowed and fired a multicolored ray of Psychic-type energy.

"Quickly, use Rapid Spin, Squirtle! Just like we practiced!" Ash shouted.

Luckily, his Water-type Pokemon followed through just in time, deflecting the attack with his rapidly spinning shell. Samurai gritted his teeth in frustration, neither Pokemon having done any real damage to their foe thus far.

"Now, use Bubble!"

With practiced speed, Squirtle popped his head out of his shell and fired his attack. Butterfree cried out in pain, while Ash and his Pokemon were elated at not only finally scoring a hit, but the first hit of the round.

"Shake it off, Butterfree! Use Whirlwind!"

The Butterfly Pokemon started flapping its wings, creating a small tornado and sending it at its opponent.

"Use Rapid Spin, Squirtle! Dissipate that tornado!" commanded Ash, seeing no other way to safely counter it.

Squirtle withdrew his head and limbs and started spinning in the same direction as the tornado, slowly dissipating it.

"Now, Butterfree! Change the direction of the wind!" Samurai yelled.

"What?! Squirtle, spin in the other direction!" Ash shouted with frantic worry.

It was too late. The tornado started spinning in the opposite direction faster than Squirtle could adapt, leading him to lose control of his movement.

"Use Confusion!"

Butterfree's eyes glowed blue, outlining Squirtle in the same color, stopping his movement before knocking him back with its telekinetic force. Squirtle cried out in pain.

"Squirtle!" Ash yelled.

"Use Silver Wind, Butterfree!" Samurai ordered.

The dual Bug/Flying-type Pokemon released silver crescents from its wings and fired them at the Water-type Pokemon. It struck him harshly, causing him to let out another painful yelp.

"Squirtle, are you okay?" his Trainer asked concernedly.

The Pokemon grunted and slowly, but surely started getting back on his feet, thankfully having not received too worrisome damage due to his high defense. Nevertheless, another combo like that might just render incapacitated.

"Let's finish this! Use Stun Spore, Butterfree!" commanded Samurai.

Ash's eyes widened. His Pokemon had already taken some notable damage. If he didn't counter the spore-based move somehow, paralysis was going to make the situation that much worse.

A proverbial light bulb lit over his head. How could he have forgotten? This was exactly what he had been preparing Squirtle for in the last couple days.

Taking a quick, deep breath to compose himself, he gave out his next command "Squirtle, use Water Gun on Butterfree's wings and let the spore hit you!"

The other occupants of the field looked at him strangely, but after a few seconds, Misty's own eyes widened in realization before shifting into an unsure expression. However, she didn't voice her concerns since she couldn't play favorites as referee.

The Water-type Pokemon was confused, but he trusted his trainer, who obviously had a plan, and did as ordered. He fired the powerful stream of water, hitting his target at about the same time as the Stun Spore took effect on him. Butterfree steadily fluttered to the ground as Squirtle shifted in discomfort.

"Now, Squirtle, use Facade!"

"Excuse me!?" Samurai yelled in bewilderment.

Squirtle's eyes opened in determination as his body started glowing orange. To his and his Trainer's delight, the orange light settled and stabilized around his body and the Pokemon could feel the great rush of power, increased by the status condition.

He charged at his opponent.

"Dodge it, Butterfree!" Samurai shouted in an almost pleading tone, knowing about Facade's increased strength with the paralysis in effect.

Unfortunately, even the dust particles that allowed Butterfree to fly in the rain couldn't handle a direct hit from a Water Gun attack. With its main and practically lone form of transportation rendered useless, the Pokemon could only stand there as Squirtle approached and rammed smack-dab into it, causing it fly back several meters and yell out in pain.

As its body landed near the base of a tree, all the Trainers could see it was unconscious.

"Butterfree is unable to battle! The winner is Squirtle! Ash of Pallet Town is the victor of this match!"

Ash sighed in alleviation. It was humbling to find out how much harder it was to keep one's composure during battle than he had originally thought and composure was definitively a virtue that he had been prizing in himself lately. He walked towards his Pokemon with a proud smile "Well done, Squirtle. You've really proven yourself today."

The Water-type rubbed the back of his head with a smile as his Trainer and teammate congratulated him on his victory and his newly learnt move.

Samurai sighed disappointment, after which he smiled slightly and started walking towards his Butterfree, who had just woken up. It was staring at the ground dejectedly before feeling a hand on top of its head. The Bug-type Pokemon looked up at the soft eyes of his master.

"You were wonderful out there. I'm sorry I couldn't guide you better," he said as he enlarged his Pokemon's pokeball.

Butterfree perked up at its Trainer's and grinned, as much as one of its species could, before being sucked back into the device. He clipped it onto his belt before heading towards Ash. He waited for the raven-haired Trainer to notice him and extended his hand when he did.

Except for Misty, neither of them noticed Pikachu's ears perk up.

"Congratulations, Ash. You were a worthy opponent. I learned a lot from today," Samurai sincerely said.

Ash gave him a controlled grin and shook the armored boy's hand.

"Thanks. You've got some mad skills yourself."

Misty decided to cut in at that moment "I'm sure you two are having a lot of fun stroking each other off, but I'm rather concerned about that buzzing sound."

The two boys turned green at her crass statement, quickly letting go of each other's hand. However, both of them soon started to hear the buzzing sound as well. Almost instantly, Samurai's green expression turned a whiter shade of pale.

"Dammit! It's the Beedrill. We made too much noise," he said worriedly said.

As soon as he announced that, a large horde of Beedrills came out of the trees and stopped in front of them, their stingers ready and their eyes looking hair-raising. There were a few dozen of them and they almost completely surrounded their left and right sides.

"Samurai, how far is this house of yours?" asked Ash, trepidation lacing his voice. Those were _a lot_ of stingers. The especially painful kind too.

"A little less than a minute if we run, but I fear that we may not make it there unscathed. It seems we'll have to fight," he replied, his hand going for his pokeballs. Misty cursed and did the same, preparing herself for the inevitable battle.

Unfortunately for Ash, Squirtle had just fought and was in no shape to fight, while Pikachu, although better rested, was still somewhat fatigued. Having to take a step back in such an important fight made him feel useless. More than that, the uselessness made him remember _that day_ again, in which he had been more than useless.

But it wasn't that different now, was it? It was his and Samurai's fight that brought the Beedrill to them. He should have proposed they find another place to battle the moment his challenger had mentioned the Beedrill, but he threw his valued caution to the wind in his excitement to fight in his first, real battle against another Trainer.

It looks like he was _still_ a fool.

"Pikachu!"

Pikachu jumped in between the two parties, his cheeks sparking and a determined scowl on his face. The three looked wide-eyed at the electric mouse's display of courage.

"Don't be an idiot, Pikachu! Come back here! You can't face them on your own," Ash said frantically, now feeling even worse.

The Pokemon refused to obey and instead cried out determinedly before threateningly sparking his cheeks at the horde of Bug-types.

Taking it as a challenge, the Beedrills charged.

"Pikachu!" his Trainer and Misty yelled, the latter getting ready to throw out Starmie's pokeball. Samurai gritted his teeth and followed the Gym Leader's example.

Pikachu, however, only stared at the host steadily approaching him, looking completely unworried, as a large amount of power coursed through his body. It had been so for the last few days, though there was nothing that could trigger its activation. But with the need to protect his friends fueling him, he successfully gathered it all and unleashed it in one go.

"PikaaaaaCHUU!"

With the fearsome cry of his name, he released the strongest electrical current than ever before. Ash, along with the others, watched in awe as the attack struck the horde, causing them all to release a painful cry. A few of them started dropping to the ground. After several more seconds, Pikachu cut off his attack.

About a quarter of the Beedrill had fallen unconscious, while the rest were barely hovering with wounds all over their bodies. The ones in better shape picked up the ones out cold and flew back into the trees.

The yellow rodent was panting, having used the attack while still being exhausted. Before he could lie down, he was lifted into the air by his Trainer.

"Way to go, buddy! You just used Thunderbolt!" Ash exclaimed jovially.

The other two humans sighed in relief before joining Ash in congratulating the Mouse Pokemon for his effort.

Later that afternoon, after resting in Samurai's house for a few hours and healing their Pokemon, the two travelers decided it was time to get back en route. In Misty's words, 'the Pokemon League waits for no Trainer and all that jazz'.

As they walked along the path to Pewter City, while the raven-haired boy appeared imperturbable, he couldn't help but keep chastising himself internally for his earlier mistake, the one where all of them could have been hurt or worse. How could he keep his Pokemon safe if he made fuck ups like that? Hell, how was he going to make it to the Regional Championship with all his _limbs_ intact if he kept putting himself and his Pokemon in unnecessary peril?

He was about continue his internal monologue, but someone chose that moment to interrupt.

"It ain't your fault, you know."

He nearly jumped as he turned to Misty, caught off guard by her sudden declaration. It seemed he hadn't been able to curb his expressions as much as he thought he could. Something to work on in the future. For the moment, he settled for scoffing dismissively.

"Don't do that, seriously. If anything, I'm the one who should be held responsible," she said.

"And why is that?" he inquired, interest mixed with disbelief at her statement.

"Cause I was the oldest and most experienced one in the group. I went through shit like that several times before. The instant he said that Beedrill nests were in close proximity, I should've insisted we find another location for you two to fight it out. I ignored it instead," she said, a tinge of guilt lacing her voice.

Ash sighed "Perhaps, but I ignored the danger too. Changing the location due to a horde of Beedrill nearby? The thought hadn't even crossed my mind."

"Then I suppose it's on both of us, but what's done is done. The ship has sailed. Now you just learn your lesson and move on."

"How am I supposed to _just_ move on? Things could have ended a lot worse. We are lucky to be unscathed as it is," he ranted.

It was the female Trainer's turn to scoff "Starmie could have handled them easily enough. The only reason I was a little bent outta shape was because we were faced with a virtual wall of _bugs_."

He sighed again, she just didn't get it "The point still stands. What if I hadn't run into you the other day and if it had just been me and Samurai? What if Pikachu hadn't been able to perform Thunderbolt without Chinchou's help in practice?"

Her face adopted a cheeky grin " _That_ was pure luck, but that's a part of life, Ash. Circumstances that are out of your control, but affect you nonetheless. A ship captain can't command the wind to blow as strong as he wants whenever he wants it to; he'll just get what he gets. There are no 'what ifs' cause we ain't livin' in a world of make-believe."

"I _am_ a realist, Misty. That's why I don't wanna rely on luck in life," he blurted, steadily getting more incensed at her lack of understanding.

"And I think it's a good mindset to have, really. Your problem is that you don't accept that control, if not perfection, is an illusion, like a mirage in the scorching, god-forsaken desert." She shuddered at the thought of never-ending, hot sand with no water in sight. "You want them badly, you _thirst_ for them, but it don't change that they're not really there. Just concepts in your head," she said firmly.

He turned away from her, not wanting to accept what she affirmed and - rather uncharacteristically - ignoring the logical side of him that saw the truth in it. He couldn't accept it. If he did, then he accepted that nothing could have changed the results of The Incident... because things _could_ have been different. Not by different circumstances, but by his own actions and his own judgement.

If he accepted her belief, then he accepted that, no matter how much learned and prepared, he wouldn't be able to prevent his Pokemon from suffering like he did that day... or prevent himself from suffering the same pain again. Selfish, yes, but not necessarily the bad or unhealthy brand of it.

But he didn't know how to dispute his reasoning without revealing what he wouldn't yet trust her with.

He didn't turn around to look at his companion when she sighed audibly. In exasperation or pity, he didn't know.

"I'm not against you strategising and preparing for all possibilities. Hell, I already said I encourage you to not rely on luck, but the po-"

"So what is it that you want from me?" Ash snapped more harshly than intended. He hadn't meant to be surly, but she had already said so much to jumble up his thoughts.

She gave him a light glare, clearly conveying to him to not interrupt her again " _The point is:_ things don't always go as planned. Some factors will escape your notice and you won't always make the right choice, but shit happens. Moping about failed plans and wrong choices helps no one, least of all you. You should be grateful that you didn't sink back there with those Beedrill."

"I _am_ grateful!"

"I beg to differ. If there's one thing that's more regretful than sinking in a tough situation, it's sinking after managing to stay afloat when the storm has passed. Letting regrets burden you down is like lowering the anchor while the ship's still moving; the end result is you achieve nothing more than to sink anyway _and_ in the most shameful way possible. So how the fuck can you say you're grateful?"

Misty inhaled once before continuing " _Everybody's_ got regrets, but how you deal with them shows whether you're a man or a pussy, Ash. As your friend, I really hope you heed my advice."

Ash didn't know what to say, so he didn't. It was too much to take in at once, thus he hoped Misty would allow him to brood about it and figure things out for himself. He had a lot to think about. Pikachu just switched his gaze between them worriedly, not knowing how to contribute in any way.

As they kept walking, neither of them felt like breaking the neither comfortable nor awkward silence between them, each for their own reasons.

* * *

"Pewter City ho!"

After a little more than a week of training and traveling through Viridian Forest, the three reached the City of Fossils (Ash still found it funny). For Misty, after spending so much time in a bug infested forest, an honorable and courageous endeavor mind you, it was an especially pleasant sight. She couldn't wait to take a hot bath and eat real food.

Meanwhile, Ash was concentrated on the Gym. His team had done well in the last week. Squirtle had managed to learn the second move he had begun teaching to him and had improved his physical capabilities to a satisfying level.

Unfortunately, Pikachu hadn't managed to learn Light Screen. Although it wasn't too surprising, according to Misty. Teaching a Psychic-type move to a relatively inexperienced non-Psychic-type Pokemon might not have been the best idea in the first place.

Manipulation of Psychic-type energy was especially hard for Pokemon who aren't the same type. It required a sort of mental control and concentration that came naturally to Psychic-types. Unless they had a natural inclination to it as well, most other Pokemon develop it through experience gained through many battles.

To compensate, he and Misty's Spearow both learned Double Team instead.

As they were about to continue onward, a voice called out.

"Hey, kids!"

They turned around to look at an older looking man with a beard and a red hat that covered his eyes. He was sitting next to several shelves filled with various sized rocks.

"Pewter City is well known for its stones, raw materials and excavation sites. Always has been. The name's Flint and the stones I'm selling are Pewter City souvenirs. Do you want to buy some?" the man asked.

"Uhh, no, thanks. I think we'd rather go to the Pokemon Center," the orange-haired girl said, Ash nodding. Truthfully, the both of them found the man kind of creepy.

With a grunt, Flint stood up and started walking towards the city "Very well. If you want, I can show you the way."

Both kids nodded "Thank you, sir."

The man chuckled "Good manners go a long way, kids. Remember that."

After a short rest in the Pokemon Center and a meal, they headed for the Pewter City Gym. It was easily recognizable due to its unique look and the Pokemon League mark that the building bared. Ash pushed the door open and peered into the large area inside the building. The lights were turned off as they entered the facility.

"Who goes there?"

Both travelers were startled by the sudden voice. The raven-haired Trainer quickly regained his composure and coughed once before speaking up.

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and I'm here to challenge the Pewter City Gym Leader!"

The lights turned on, allowing them to see to the other side of the room, where a 15 year-old looking teenager was seated with his arms crossed. Ash admitted it was a fairly decent scare tactic against rookie trainers, but he had seen enough to not even be fazed. In between them was a field with a rocky terrain theme. Cutting through the middle of it was a white line with a white circle at the very center.

"My name is Brock Slate and I am the Gym Leader. Though I'd rather not waste my time with big-headed rookie trainers, I'm obliged to accept all challenges." He looked at Pikachu on Ash's shoulder "Your Pokemon looks to be in its cutest stage. It won't last long."

Ash raised an unimpressed eyebrow while patting Pikachu's head to keep him from acting out to Brock's insult. Either the guy was intentionally trying to get him riled up or he was just a pompous dick. Maybe both. He turned to Misty "He's really laying it on me, isn't he?"

She sighed in response "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but I've got a hunch you've already figured it out. Yeah, most rookies are prone to taking things personal so it's become common practice for Gym Leaders to purposely grate on their nerves."

"Prof. Oak always told me that a Trainer's skill in battle is equivalent to their levelheadedness." He nodded in agreement. You allow yourself to get riled up and you get sloppy.

She idly clapped in response, letting out a very unenthusiastic whoop "Congratulations, you've passed the first test. Now let's see how our contestant fares in the next round, folks."

The raven-haired boy rolled his eyes at her antics, regardless of how entertaining they occasionally were.

"If you two are done, I'd like to have our battle sometime today. Considering you're from Pallet Town, I'd guess this is your first official Gym match, like the rest of the Pallet Town Trainers." He saw Ash nod. "Rules are a little different. The rules of this Gym dictate that there are no substitutions for either the Gym Leader or the challenger. It'll be a two-on-two battle. As per the Gym's tradition, I'll choose first," Brock finished his speech as he pulled out a pokeball and tossed it high.

"Go, Geodude!"

The Rock-type Pokemon appeared on its side of the field, ready for action. Ash thought about his first choice before settling on Pikachu. Whatever Pokemon Brock had, it was bound to be bigger and stronger than a Geodude, as Rock-type Pokemon smaller than a Geodude were by no means in abundance. Both offensively and defensively, Squirtle would have a much better shot against whatever it was.

"Pikachu, you're up," he said to his starter.

"Pika!" he cried out in self-assured excitement and jumped onto the field, his cheeks sparking with electricity.

Brock raised an eyebrow at the challenger's choice, ultimately deciding not to voice his opinion. He smirked before giving his Geodude an order "Geodude, use Rock Throw!"

The Rock Pokemon punched the ground in front of it, sending multiple rocks flying at Pikachu.

"Use Agility to dodge, Pikachu," Ash countered.

Pikachu dodged the stones by moving and jumping around with astonishing nimbleness.

"Use Magnitude," Brock commanded.

"Jump into the air and use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted.

Geodude's arms glowed before punching the ground, causing it to shake violently. Pikachu managed to leap just in time to avoid it and charged his tail with Steel-type energy.

Brock wasn't in the least bit fazed "Rock Throw again, Geodude!"

Instead of punching the ground, it levitated the stones from before and hurled them at its opponent.

"Head over heels, Pikachu! Wreck them!" Ash commanded.

The Mouse Pokemon did as ordered and started somersaulting in mid air, destroying every rock in his path with Iron Tail still in effect.

Brock cursed slightly at his foiled plan "Defense Curl!"

Geodude curled into itself and gleamed before being struck by the super effective move. It grunted in pain as it was sent flying back slightly, but managed to unfurl itself and stop. Brock just watched blankly before a more genuine smile appeared on his face.

"Good! You're better than expected!" he said to his challenger.

Ash gave a nod "Thanks! Your Geodude's defense is pretty high, even for a Rock-type's!"

"I take good care of my Pokemon. Now, back to the battle! Geodude, use Mega Punch! Don't stop until I tell you to!" the Gym Leader shouted.

The Rock Pokemon's fists shined white and it charged at Pikachu.

"Dodge them all, Pikachu! You're faster than him," Ash ordered.

It was true as Pikachu dodged all of Geodude's attempts to strike him. It went like that several more times until Pikachu dodged by jumping into the air.

"Your Pikachu can't defend itself now! Use Magnitude, Geodude!"

Ash realized he was right as Pikachu couldn't jump while he was already in the air. The ground shook when Pikachu landed, inflicting notable damage. When the shaking stopped, the electric mouse was standing on wobbly feet, looking a little worse for wear.

Brock tsk'd. Fortunately for Ash, on the Magnitude scale, that one had been a 5.

"Use Rock Polish then Rollout!" shouted Brock.

Geodude's entire body was outlined in white before disappearing and it started rolling towards its opponent with speed.

"Hang in there! Use Agility again!"

Pikachu did as ordered and dodged the incoming attack easily enough, still being faster than the Rock-type Pokemon. Despite this, it changed direction and Ash saw it moving slightly faster than before. As his starter kept dodging by a slimmer and slimmer margin, he wracked his brain for a plan. As it was, the Geodude was moving too fast for Iron Tail to be effective and it would eventually catch up with Pikachu in velocity, destroying they're only advantage. It was obviously trained to change direction quickly enough even with the augmented speed.

 _That's it,_ Ash's eyes widened before a notable grin adorned his face. It was no different than with Samurai.

"Pikachu, create as much distance between you and Geodude as you can!" he shouted.

The Electric-type Pokemon heard him and put an especially strong boost in his last jump, creating a decently large gap between him and his opponent. The Rock-type altered its course and rolled towards him, faster than before. Pikachu gulped as it came closer, waiting for his Trainer's orders.

When it was about fifteen feet away, Ash finally yelled out "Now, jump above it and use the strongest Growl you can!"

Brock's eyebrows went up as Pikachu jumped above his Geodude and let loose a loud and rather terrifying growl, giving him the chills. Even during Rollout, the Rock Pokemon couldn't help but flinch, which consequently caused it to lose control over Rollout. Having no semblance of rule over its movement, Geodude ended up crashing into one of the stone protrusions on the battlefield.

"Geodude!" the Gym Leader yelled in concern.

His Pokemon stumbled out of the pile of stones it created, having visibly taken a considerable amount of damage.

"Now, Pikachu, Quick Attack into Iron Tail," Ash ordered.

The combination move scored and sent Geodude flying towards Brock's side of the field, landing with swirls in its eyes. Brock recalled his Pokemon "You did excellent, Geodude. Rest now."

He looked at his challenger with a lot more respect than before.

"Be careful how you use your moves or your opponent might use them against you," Ash quoted, a line his mentor was especially fond of.

Brock nodded in understanding. Though Geodude became a lot faster through Rock Polish and continuous use of Rollout, being able to spin like that while changing directions when necessary required tremendous focus. The Growl Pikachu had used messed up its concentration and resulted in his Pokemon losing control.

"I'm impressed, really. That was quite the unorthodox strategy. Ingenious nonetheless, of course. But let's see how you handle my Onix! Go!" The Gym Leader let out his last Pokemon.

The huge, serpentine Pokemon materialized on Brock's side of the field and roared in its deep voice. Pikachu instantly became nervous at the prospect of facing it, even when at full power, let alone while exhausted.

His Trainer was thinking the same thing "Return, Pikachu! You've done really well!"

The yellow rodent nodded and ran back to him, stopping at his side. Ash took out Squirtle's pokeball and threw it.

"Squirtle!" he shouted in excitement. To his credit, he only smirked at the face of the monster before him.

"A wise choice," Brock said, nodding at Ash's decision.

It was actually his only choice, but he didn't feel like telling that to Brock. "I'll go first! Squirtle, Water Gun," the rookie Trainer commanded.

"Counter with Dragon Breath, Onix!" the Gym Leader shouted.

The two Pokemon unleashed their attacks at the same time, colliding in the middle of the field. However, the Dragon-type attack quickly overpowered the Water Gun and headed for Squirtle.

"Use Iron Defense, Squirtle!" Ash shouted, worried.

The Water-type Pokemon retracted his limbs and head into his shell before glowing a steely silver color. The green flames struck him and covered him from view. After the move dissipated, the shell could be seen almost completely undamaged. A second later, Squirtle's appendages popped out along with his head, looking relatively unharmed.

Ash sighed in relief, glad that he had the sense to teach his Pokemon that move. Luckily, he also managed to avoid being paralyzed.

"Not bad, but let's see how you counter this. Use Iron Tail, Onix!" Brock ordered.

The Rock Snake Pokemon's tail glowed white before preparing to strike with it.

"Use Water Gun on that Iron Tail, Squirtle!"

Squirtle fired the blast of water at the incoming attack, but it didn't manage to stop it. However, it did manage to do what Ash wanted. It slowed it down.

"Now, jump on it and use Bubble on its face!" Ash commanded.

With the move's speed sufficiently decreased, his Pokemon jumped onto Onix's tail and fired a barrage of consecutive high-powered bubbles at its face, causing it to roar in pain and blind it.

"No, Onix! Shake it off your tail!" Brock quickly ordered.

"Jump off, Squirtle!" the challenger yelled.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon leaped off the appendage just as Onix was to try and buck him off. Brock could see that the Bubble attack had done some damage and was still interfering with his Pokemon's sight.

"Use Dig, Onix!" he shouted.

Said Pokemon swiftly dug into the field and disappeared from sight. Ash and Squirtle looked around trying to figure where Onix will come out. For such a large Pokemon, it was surprisingly quiet when digging.

"Be ready, Squirtle," the raven-haired boy said to his Pokemon. He received a nod in return.

"Now, Rock Tomb!" the Gym Leader ordered.

"What?!" is all Ash could say before a large rock formation sprouted from the ground and enclosed on Squirtle. The Water-type grunted in discomfort and pain, his movement disabled by the move. Only his head and a part of his upper body were visible.

"When underground, Onix is extremely sensitive to all movement on the surface! Even just turning its head left and right caused enough shift in Squirtle's movement for Onix to sense it. And now.." the Rock Serpent burst from the ground, eyes open and concentrated on Squirtle "he has his eyesight back and your Pokemon is trapped. Onix, Iron Tail!"

Ash stared wide-eyed as Onix reared back his glowing tail before shaking his head and focusing back on the match. This was _really_ not the time for him to lose his head.

"Slow it down with Water Gun and follow with Withdraw!" Ash quickly commanded.

Despite his immobilized state, Squirtle fired the attack at the powered appendage, slowing it down and withdrew into his shell at the last second. The move smashed through the rock protrusions and sent Squirtle flying several meters, landing about ten feet in front of his master. To his great relief, Squirtle came out of his shell (no pun intended) a few seconds later with only slight damage done to him.

Both present Gym Leaders were certifiably impressed with his quick thinking. Ash had used Onix's own Iron Tail to free Squirtle from Rock Tomb while using Water Gun and Withdraw to minimize the damage. Brock smirked, this one was certainly interesting "This isn't over yet, kid! Dragon Breath, Onix!"

"Oh no, you don't! Water Propulsion into the air!" the raven-haired Trainer shouted.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon fired a torrent of water at the ground, propelling himself upwards and out of harm's way of the Dragon-type attack.

"Propel yourself towards Onix and use Iron Defense!"

Brock, Misty and Pikachu blinked at the order before watching Squirtle withdraw all his appendages and his head. After that, he shot himself in Onix's direction with Water Gun and glowed in the steely silver color that signified the use of Iron Defense. Their eyes widened at the unorthodox move and harshly struck the Rock-type Pokemon before Brock could even yell out a command.

"Onix!" the brunette teenager yelled in worry as his Pokemon was sent flying back slightly, basically struck by a super-effective Steel-type move.

"Finish it with Water Gun, Squirtle!" Ash ordered.

Squirtle obliged and released the pressurized beam of water at the Rock-type. The move struck true, causing Onix to cry out painfully and faint.

Brock sighed sadly before composing himself "Onix is unable to battle! You, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, are the winner!"

The winner walked out on the field and scooped up both his Pokemon with a proud and gratifying smile "Great job, you two. We won our first." Pikachu and Squirtle responded by letting gleeful cries.

"I guess congratulations are in order," Misty said with her usual grin, though softer than the one she ordinarily adorned.

"I agree." They turned to look at the Gym Leader, who had walked across the field towards them after returning Onix "You showed skill and cunning that a good deal rookies don't show by the time they get all eight Gym badges. So, like Misty said, congratulations are in order and I'm proud to say that you deserve this," he said and held out his hand, showing the Boulder Badge in all its glory.

"Thanks." Ash took out his badge case and put the badge in its rightful place. Rightful place. That term made him feel particularly pleased.

He looked down at his two Pokemon. Both of them were somewhat beat up and rather exhausted. "I think we should take our Pokemon to the Center."

"I'll accompany you. Mine need to get healed too," the resident Gym Leader added.

* * *

Misty was reading a newspaper that was on one of the tables in the Pokemon Center, her two companions having given their Pokemon to Nurse Joy ten minutes ago, when her eyes fell on something interesting.

"Hey, Ash! Come and take a look at this!" she called to the raven-haired boy.

Ash looked confused but walked over to her before leaning in to look at the newspaper "What is it?"

"The Pokemon Center in Viridian City was attacked by Team Rocket the very evening of the day we left," she said, surprising him "There's even a picture here." She pointed at a picture, which depicted the facility with a big hole in the roof with smoke coming out of it.

"Why was it attacked?" Ash asked curiously.

"Apparently, they were hoping to pilfer some rare and valuable Pokemon. Luckily, there was a trainer there who stopped them. Someone by the name of Ritchie."

Ash felt anger well within him. Team Rocket. He was _beyond_ being simply aware of the existence of Pokemon thieves and he loathed them with a vengeance. He restrained the urge to rub his left shoulder as he tried to calm down his warring emotions. No, it wasn't a topic that was good for his equanimity.

Oddly enough, a part of him felt it apropos to comment that whoever these people were, they were obviously idiots for believing they would find rare Pokemon in a Pokemon Center, in the middle of the evening, in Viridian City of all places. Had the Regional Championship been upon them then, yeah, that would have been a better time to strike.

"I've heard of them. They were once a big shot criminal organization but they went underground over a decade ago. After the G-Men released a bunch of their top secret files to the public nearly 20 years ago, they started losing ground in their fights against the authorities," Brock mused with an uneasy expression, having joined them during the middle of their conversation.

The student of Prof. Oak didn't blame him for his discomfort, for he felt a similar sensation crawl up his spine. Brock may not have said it, but Team Rocket's sudden activity was a telltale sign of their resurfacing. During the organization's most active period, the Kanto-Johto region had not been the safest place on Earth, with high tensions and perpetual conflicts abound. The region had also experienced a drop in population due to people migrating to other, _safer_ regions to avoid it all.

That was how it was described to him by his mother and mentor. That Team Rocket was done hiding was a disturbing revelation indeed.

"Uh huh. The police still hasn't succeeded in uncovering who their main bigwig is," Misty commented.

"Huh?" the two males asked, confused.

"Bigwig. Y'know, the boss, head honcho, the big kahuna. It's Team Rocket's best kept secret, wasn't even in those publicly released files."

As they were about to continue, the sound of rushing footsteps could be heard. They turned to look at a man coming towards them, looking very worried. He stopped in front of them, panting with his hands on his knees.

"Mr. Slate, come quick! Thieves at one of the fossil excavation sites! I saw them tying up our workers. I don't think they noticed me," he explained frantically.

Brock cursed before running towards the reception desk "Nurse Joy, are my Pokemon healed yet?"

She shook her head with an apologetic expression "I've heard everything, but I'm sorry to say that your Pokemon are still too tired and injured."

Surprisingly, he just nodded and followed the man, who started leading him away. Ash and Misty looked at each other searchingly before the girl started running after them, leaving him alone in the Center. He gritted his teeth, conflicted. His Pokemon were still too tired to take an active part so running after them would be dangerous and foolish, but almost desperately wanting to anyway.

But he also knew that even if Pikachu and Squirtle were completely healthy, the likelihood of him contributing would be minimal to nonexistent with the presence of two Gym Leaders.

In the end, his desire to at least be there for one of his only human friends as she faced danger (as well as an admittedly childish desire of not wanting to feel excluded) won out and he sprinted in their direction without his Pokemon and no guarantee for his safety. He was _so_ going to regret this, he just knew it.

They quickly caught up to them. Brock was about to berate them before deciding he might need their help, Misty being a qualified Gym Leader herself. Although the kid's presence worried him since his Pokemon were still healing, but he also didn't have the time to convince him to go back. Hopefully, he and the girl would be all that they needed.

They slowed down as they came to the excavation site, which was about half a mile outside of the city, and what they saw confirmed what the man said. There were workers down there tied up in groups while five people were taking the excavated fossils and putting them in containers.

In Ash's opinion, they were dressed like special ops forces one would see in a movie, wearing black clothes with some sort of high-tech, gun-like weapons strapped to their vests. A cargo truck was situated on the opposite side of the site.

He grabbed Brock's shoulder just as the teenager was about head out. Brock glared at him, but Ash serenely explained "Don't. With those weapons, rushing out there would be suicide."

"So what do you propose we do? Just stand here and watch? Besides, you shouldn't even _be_ here," the Gym Leader spat heatedly.

Not wanting to argue with him, the young Trainer turned to the man who had informed them "Do you have a cellphone?" The man nodded "Call the police and tell them to get here." _Which is what you should've done in the first place_ Ash wanted to say, but figured that criticizing him would do no good at that moment.

He nodded and quickly dialed the authorities. After explaining the situation to the police, he looked back at them "They said they're going to be here in less than 10 minutes."

"We should wait until they get here. If they start to leave before that..." Ash left the rest unsaid because no words were necessary. He wanted to gulp but it wouldn't do to show fear after his bout of decisiveness.

His hopes were dashed when he heard one of them say "Everything is secured, boss!"

"Alright. Time to head out before anyone notices!"

The group looked at each other, knowing that now was the time to act. Brock nodded and picked up two of his pokeballs, releasing their occupants. Instead of a Geodude or an Onix he had faced, a Graveler and a Magcargo materialized. The Gym Leader jumped out of the bushes they were hiding in and ran towards the thieves, his Pokemon and the others close behind.

"Stop right there!" he shouted at them. When they turned their surprised gazes to him, he continued "As the Gym Leader of Pewter City, I cannot allow you to take those fossils!" His two Pokemon rolled to each side of him and uncurled, having used Rollout to move. Ash had to admit, it made for quite an impressive sight.

The criminals seemed startled for a moment before pointing their weapons at them. One of them, probably the leader, stepped forward "And I can't allow you not allow us, kid." His gaze swept over all of them before refocusing on Brock "You've already notified the authorities, haven't you? Well, shit. It looks we'll need to speed things up. Have at them, fellas!"

His henchmen used their free hands to pull out their pokeballs and let out their Pokemon. The first thing that the group noticed was that they were all Water-types: two Poliwraths, a Wartortle and two Cloysters. The grunts soon started them giving orders, to which the Pokemon responded by firing water blasts of varying power.

"Graveler, stay close to Magcargo! Magcargo, use Protect!" Brock shouted.

"Starmie, divert them with Psychic!" Misty responded as well.

A green dome of energy surrounded the two Rock-type Pokemon, three of the attacks harmlessly splashing against it. The other two were encased in a blue glow and hit nothing but air as their trajectories changed.

It wasn't hard for Ash to conclude why they brought Water-types in this operation. They were the ideal type in this situation due to the local Gym's use of Rock-type Pokemon and the police force's tendency to use Growlithes and Arcanines.

Two of the thieves decided to use their gun-like weapons at the Gym Leaders, firing some kind of blue energy bolts crackling with electricity. Though the two managed to dodge the projectiles, the one meant for Misty instead hit their informant and he fell to the ground with a yelp of pain. Sparks of blue electricity were flickering around his body as he twitched on the ground.

"Be careful! Those things cause something akin to paralysis when hit! Magcargo, use Ancient Power. Graveler, Rock Polish and then Rollout!" Brock shouted, concentrated more on keeping the criminals here instead of outright winning.

The dual Fire/Rock-type created several silver energy balls and launched them at the foes while Graveler shone white before curling into a ball and rolling towards at them at an even greater speed than Brock's Geodude.

Unfortunately, the Cloysters jumped to the front with their shells tightly closed, which began glowing a silver white. Magcargo's attack struck them, but did no damage whatsoever. Graveler soon converged on the two Bivalve Pokemon, but one of the Poliwraths, in an impressive show of strength and skill, grabbed the still spinning Rock Pokemon and threw it back. Graveler just kept rolling as soon as he struck the ground.

That same Poliwrath abruptly cried out in pain as it was enveloped in blue energy and thrown back, landing close to the criminals with swirls in its eyes, courtesy of Misty's Starmie.

"Take that, assholes!" she yelled jeeringly before quickly ducking to avoid another bolt from their weapons.

In a situation like this, Ash should've known his luck would eventually run out. After dodging one of the projectiles, he slipped on a wet spot on the ground. Raising his head, he saw one of them train her gun on him, ready to turn him into a convulsing mess.

However, before that could happen, something white and gold struck the thief and sent her crashing against two of her comrades. All of them turned to look at it and were surprised to find that the white and yellow was merely a coat of energy. When it dissipated, the Pokemon was revealed, one which caused all of them to go wide-eyed, Ash in particular.

"B-Beldum," he stuttered in disbelief.

Several feet in front of the raven-haired Trainer floated the dual Steel/Psychic Iron Ball Pokemon, one of the first Pokemon he saw in Prof. Oak's encyclopedia. The raven-haired boy was speechless and he couldn't even muster up to admonish himself. How could he? He may have seen a lot of other Pokemon in that book during his tutoring, that didn't change that Beldum's evolutionary line had still remained as one of the best to him.

Finally composing himself from his fit of gawking (how embarrassing!), he was about to thank it when the Pokemon was promptly struck by one of the energy bolts. It fell down while grunting in pain.

Ash stared in dismay as the leader of the thieves stepped closer and closer to his savior, chuckling coldly.

"A pseudo-legendary Pokemon will catch a hefty price in the market. This is our lucky day," the man said with cold mirth gracing his voice, pulling out a pokeball that had a similar design to their weapons.

Ash didn't see it. He didn't see the Pokemon and their Trainers resume their fighting. No, he only saw the despicable man who hurt Beldum... and then he saw red.

The Iron Ball Pokemon glared with its one eye at the leader, wishing nothing more than to break his ribs with a good Take Down attack. Both of their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rushing footsteps. The man turned to look and Beldum saw the human he saved barrel into him, knocking him down. He was so flabbergasted by the sudden attack, he couldn't defend himself at first as Ash repeatedly punched him in the face with a feral roar.

The raven-haired boy was knocked onto his back by the man punching him back. He put his hand against the spot on his left cheek and glowered up at the leader, satisfied to see a split lip and a bruise slowly forming on his face.

"You slug pretty hard for a little shit, I admit, but playing hero's gonna cost ya." He pointed his weapon at Ash with a gruesome smile on his face. To his slight consternation, the boy's expression remained unchanged.

"Go ahead. I've suffered _worse_ ," Ash growled.

Impressed, the man searched his eyes as if looking for something. He apparently found whatever _it_ was, for his grin turned even more gruesome "Of that, I have no doubt," he said like it was obvious thing in the world.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! Starmie, give 'em the Electric Chair Treatment!" Misty yelled with a ferocious rage, startling everybody present.

The core jewel on the starfish-like Pokemon glowed blue, using Psychic to grab all of the thieves' Pokemon and bringing them together. Starmie was then surrounded by yellow crackling electricity before it fired a _massive_ ThunderBolt at them. The Pokemon yelled out in pain and fell down when the attack ended, unconscious and covered in burn marks.

Ash stared gobsmacked at the rage-induced display of power, like a mama Ursaring protecting her cubs. He had _definately_ been right about her Starmie and, boy, was he glad.

The leader's expression was one of horrified astonishment, soon after which it morphed into one of unbridled rage. He turned his incensed gaze to Ash, who found it a good time to try and crawl away from the man, and went to grab him. Ash's eyes widened because it didn't take a genius to realize what he was doing.

He was trying to take the boy hostage.

Before he could, however, he and all of his henchmen were promptly entrapped between four stone protrusions each, rendering them immobile but uninjured. Ash let out a breath he was holding, relieved that the situation was over and shifted to look at Brock "Thanks for that."

The older boy stared at him blankly "Umm, that wasn't me," he said, confusing the rest of the group.

"It was me, actually."

"Golem!"

Shocked, they all gazed at the large Rock-type Pokemon that suddenly appeared, but it wasn't alone. Next to him stood a man that three members of the group recognized.

"Flint!" Ash and Misty yelled out in recognition.

The rock seller smiled before walking towards Brock. He stopped in front of him before taking off the hat and tearing off the beard, showing that it was fake. Brock's eyes narrowed a little.

"Father."

Flint nodded "Son."

* * *

"Here. Beldum is all better. Whatever weapon was used, it merely acted like an artificial Thunder Wave," the Pewter City Nurse Joy kindly said.

"Thank you. We appreciate your assistance," Brock said, smiling at the pretty woman.

"That's what I'm here for," she responded, smiling back before attending to another Trainer.

Beldum floated of the cart he was carried around in before approaching the three kids and one adult. Ash stepped forward and inclined his head "Thank you for saving me back there. I owe you one."

The Pokemon gave him an eye-smile before lightly bumping him, as if saying 'you're welcome', to which Ash chuckled a little. Pikachu, now back on Ash's shoulder, politely greeted the Steel-type Pokemon.

"By the way, not that I'm ungrateful, but why _did_ it help out?" Misty asked with her brows furrowed. Ash was rather bewildered as well, not really finding a reason for the Steel-type Pokemon to have interfered either.

"I think I know," Brock spoke up "About two weeks ago, this Beldum came out of nowhere and started helping out at that excavation site by using Take Down to pulverize the more troublesome stones. It must have separated from its swarm in Mt. Silver. We figured it either genuinely wanted to help out or that it simply had nothing better to do. Maybe both."

Beldum levitated it's head up and down in an imitation of a nod. After that, it looked at Ash and lightly bumped him again. The rookie Trainer was perplexed by the Pokemon's actions before realization hit him. This... couldn't be happening, could it? He hoped beyond hope that he was right.

"Beldum, do you wanna join my team as a battling Pokemon?" he asked, stomping down on his possibly false hopes and keeping his expression mostly neutral in order to minimize the potential disappointment. What if it was merely thanking him back for preventing the criminal team's boss from capturing it? What if it wanted to continue working at the excavation sites? Beldum and its evolved forms, Metang and Metagross, had been among his very favorite Pokemon for a while now.

Rejection would sting no matter how much he prepared himself for it.

To his immense relief and joy, Beldum eye-smiled and 'nodded' enthusiastically. Ash grinned widely and hugged his new Pokemon to his chest.

"Welcome to the team!"

"Pi Pika!" Pikachu rejoiced with them.

To the side, Misty was smiling softly at the scene. This was the most emotion she had seen from the kid in their two weeks of traveling together. She was glad to see there were things that Ash would openly express his joy about. God, the brat had issues.

The raven-haired Trainer pulled out an empty pokeball and Beldum tapped it without hesitation, becoming enveloped in the signature red beam and sucked into the device. It pinged without a single shake. Ash smiled at his success; he had never thought that he would catch a Beldum, not so early into his journey, at least.

He was one lucky son of a bitch.

"Kudos, squirt. Not many can brag about training a pseudo-legendary, especially catching one in two weeks into their journey," Brock complimented, clapping his hand onto the younger boy's shoulder and basically confirming Ash's thoughts.

"Yeah, just make sure your ego doesn't get pseudo-legendary and we'll be like fish and water," the Orange-haired girl piped in casually with a small smirk.

Ash smirked back, pretty much used to, maybe even appreciative of her sarcastically witty quips. Even hearing the sailor vocabulary and phrases was almost a comfort.

Flint coughed before the two could go on a row, gaining their attention "Ash, I want you to have something. None of you may have seen me, but I watched your battle with Brock. It made me realize that I acted like a coward, avoiding my family due to my failure, which only lead to making myself into an even bigger one. I left my eldest to take care of nine of his brothers by himself, his father less than a mile away from him, not allowing him to achieve his dream in his timid selfishness."

Ash and Misty understood what he meant. While on the way to the Center earlier, Brock had explained to them about his situation at home as well as his dream of becoming a renowned Pokemon Breeder. The two invited him, the raven-haired Trainer somewhat more reluctantly, but he refused due to the aforementioned reasons.

The rookie Trainer's eyes widened a bit when Brock's father pulled out a pokeball and handed it to him. He took it and looked at the man for confirmation, who only smiled and nodded, before releasing the Pokemon inside.

"Rhy!"

He stared in amazement at the Rhyhorn. It was young, if its below average size was any indication and it looked healthy. Flint patted her head gently "She was born about a month ago and she's a gentle soul, unlike many of her species. I've given her a bit of training and she's ready for battle. She'll make a wonderful addition and I know I can trust her with you."

The raven-haired boy steeled his nerves and kneeled down a little to be at face level with her. Though Ash wasn't much of a believer in the 'don't look a gift Rapidash in the mouth' thing, not being the most trusting individual and all, the man had saved him from being taken hostage and had given him no reason whatsoever to consider him unreliable.

Okay, he wasn't there for his family for a long while, but that was neither here nor there.

"Hey, Rhyhorn. I'm Ash and I'd like you to join me on my journey. I promise to train you to the best of my ability and take good care of you while we're out there. Flint trusts me to care for you and I don't want to disappoint him."

Rhyhorn looked at him for a few moments before gently nuzzling him, causing Ash to laugh lightly and pat the horn on her nose. As he returned her to her pokeball, Flint walked over to his son, preparing himself for the inevitable harsh words.

"Son, the most I can give you is my blessing to journey with this young boy and girl. Together, you will travel far and wide, see more than most can dream of seeing. You don't need my permission as you have been admirably independent and responsible for a while now nor do I have the right to deny you anything in the first place. I'll take care of the kids, as a father should," he said sincerely.

Brock stared at him blankly before speaking up "There are some things I have to tell you."

Flint nodded "I understand. You should get it off your chest. I deserve it anyway and-"

"Actually, I should write it down." He grabbed a pencil, a piece of paper and began writing on it. The rest of the group waited patiently as he scribbled, though Misty was starting to feel impatient. After about two minutes, he finished and handed it to his father. The man began to read it and he paled at the content.

"You wanna take care of you children? All that I've written is what you need to do to manage," Brock said, a strong firmness lacing his voice.

"I-I.. all this.. h-how much," Flint stuttered before sighing with slumped shoulders. He straightened up quickly afterwards "Well, I better get to work then. I'll see you around, son."

The three watched him leave the building, knowing that he _would_ manage.

Brock suddenly clapped his hands once and looked at his new companions with an affable smile "So... who wants a nice, home-cooked meal?"

* * *

 **Over 13k! Wow. The 'Power Over Prowess' equivalent had 10,5 k. I'm pretty proud of myself right now.**

 **Something you should probably know is that in this story, Pokemon whose different evolutionary stages appeared in different games will be native to the region in which one of their stages first appeared. For example, Magby and Magmortar will be Kanto native, Yanmega and Weavile will be Johto native and Gallade, Budew and Roserade will be Hoenn native.**

 **We've found out a little more on Ash's past and his personality. Like in POP, Ash got a Beldum and a Rhyhorn for his troubles.**

 **If anyone can guess what the chapter title refers to within the chapter itself, they get a virtual cookie.**

 **Til next time, folks!**


	4. The Cerulean Prodigy

**I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

About a week after they had left Pewter City, the group stood at an intersection that divided the road into two paths, one straight and the other right. In the not-so-great distance, a silver mountain with green slopes could be seen.

"So that's Mt. Moon, huh?" Ash asked, his and Pikachu's head craned back to look at the peak.

Brock nodded "Yeah. The interior is a maze of tunnels and caves, one of which provides the quickest passage to Cerulean City."

"What about the Pokemon?"

"It's home to a lot of species, like Paras, Geodude, Onix, Sandshrew and such. The Zubat and Golbat aren't really popular though, but they mostly keep to themselves in the deeper and darker part of the caves."

Ash had to agree on that. The Bat Pokemon were okay as fighters, but they were really annoying if you found yourself in the middle of one of their frenzies, not that he had the bad luck to speak from first-hand experience (thank God!). Word of mouth and a working imagination were enough to give him an educated guess.

The other species didn't catch his interest either; perhaps he might have gone for a Sandshrew to use against Lt. Surge, which wasn't necessary anymore with Rhyhorn on his team. However, he was fully aware of what exactly Mt. Moon was most famous for. Firstly, for the bountiful amount of Moon Stones that were almost regularly mined from it, hence the name, and secondarily, for housing one of the largest colonies of the Cleffa line in the world.

But it still presented a problem to him.

"I can't tell you much about it since I took the long way around on my bike," Misty said.

"I can imagine that the passage is pretty narrow, right?" Ash inquired, looking at Brock.

The brunette stared back at him in understanding "If you mean too narrow to train in, then yes. It'd be both impossible and dangerous if you tried."

No kidding. They'd be up shit creek without a paddle if Rhyhorn accidentally caused a cave in by tackling against a cave wall. Speaking of which, the raven-haired Trainer had scanned the newest additions to his team the morning after their departure.

 **Beldum, the Iron Ball Pokemon. It uses magnetic waves to converse with its kind. Every cell in its body is magnetic. Beldum is a genderless Pokemon and it has the ability Clear Body. It knows the move Take Down.**

 **Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokemon. It is capable of charging in only one direction due to its four short legs. It makes up for it with its frightening power, its tackles capable of knocking a trailer flying. This Rhyhorn is female and has the ability Rock Head. She has also unlocked the hidden ability Reckless. She knows the moves Horn Attack, Fury Attack, Rock Blast, Scary Face and Megahorn. She also has the egg moves Crunch, Ice Fang and Thunder Fang, of which only Crunch has been unlocked.**

An impressive moveset for someone as young as her, almost astonishingly so, if not for the fact that she was probably the offspring of Flint's own Rhydon, according to Brock. In Pokemon, more than just moves were passed down through the genes of the parents, but Pokemon genetics was a subject that had so many variables and unknowns that it was impossible to predict all the outcomes.

While not one to discriminate, Ash was glad that his Rhyhorn was _born_ impressive.

"So we're going starboard?" Misty asked.

He nodded "Yeah. Misty, how long should it take us to reach Cerulean City that way?"

She held her chin in thought "Well, it took me 4 days to reach this intersection and I pedaled at least 7 hours a day. I guess it should take us about a week and a half, maybe two."

"That's plenty of time to get ready for my next Gym battle," Ash commented.

Misty scoffed dismissively "Against one of my sisters? You'll be the speedboat against their dingy."

The two males raised an eyebrow at the bitter tone, while Pikachu snickered at the analogy. There was some obvious family tension there. Perhaps it played a part in why the teenage girl left Cerulean City, if not the main reason. But, as usual, the raven-haired teen wasn't going to pry. Wow. How many times must have he told himself that? So many that it may as well become his motto.

Focus on your problems and don't pry into things that don't have any effect on you.

"In the case your sisters end up being indisposed, it's you who I'll be fighting, Misty. Would I still be a speedboat against a dingy then?" Ash said neutrally, though his challenge clear.

She scoffed again, though light-heartedly this time "Compared to me, you're a fart in a hurricane, kid. You'll be reduced to nothing by my awesomeness."

"Watching you two try to verbally outdo the other is the most fun I've had in a while. So far, I haven't regretted a minute of joining this merry band. "Brock chuckled, unclear if mirthfully or sarcastically. Or both.

Misty directed her smirk at him "Give it some time. It's only been a week."

"Seriously though, it really is a possibility that you end up being my opponent. That's why I was wondering if, well, until we get to Cerulean City, you two could give me and my team some privacy while we train?" Ash asked bluntly. No point in beating around the bush.

The two looked surprised by the odd request, but Misty shrugged soon after "Sure. Always good to have an ace up your sleeve. Hell, I'll give you a few hints." At that, Ash payed closer attention "The Cerulean City Gym holds three-on-three battles against challengers with few exceptions. If I'm gonna be your opponent, I'll be using Staryu, Chinchou and Starmie."

"Should you really be telling him that?" Brock asked uncertainly.

The carrot top raised a finger "One, it's more likely that he'll exchange cannon fire with one of my sisters, not me." She raised a second finger "Two, he's a smart kid; he would've figured it out on his own."

She wasn't wrong. The young Trainer had already deduced that those were the Pokemon he would face if Misty was to be the opposing Gym Leader. With only one badge in the case, she most likely wasn't going to use Pokemon from her original team that she undoubtedly possessed, not counting Starmie.

In fact, he was planning to train his team as if they were going to battle against Misty and when they reached the Gym, ask if she would be his opponent. He'd bet his whole allowance that she'd accept. After weeks of sparring, he was quite certain she'd want to face him in an official battle. He knew because he felt the same way.

He couldn't fool her though. The thirteen year-old was too smart not to see through his plan. However, rather than be offended, Ash was pretty sure she would relish the challenge and compliment him by comparing him to some great admiral or pirate captain.

Misty was cool like that.

Even though he had already beaten Brock, the the two males knew what _would_ have been offensive was if Ash had asked only her to leave.

A couple hours later, the group was eating lunch along with their Pokemon in a large field. Ash couldn't help staring every few minutes at the formidable, 60 foot metal serpent that was Brock's starter. For a Pokemon that seemed to possess a permanent scowl, his Steelix somehow gave off an aura of affable calmness, belying the fierceness ready to be brought forth under the right circumstances.

Completing his team of six, the other newly introduced Pokemon was, surprisingly, a Crustle, a dual Bug/Rock-type most commonly found in the Unova region. Ash noticed that all of Brock's Pokemon looked exceptionally well taken care of, with rock and steel-hard skin as if crafted with the proficiency and steady hand of a master sculptor.

The sixteen year-old was feeding them food especially made for each of them, containing the necessary calories and minerals to energize them and enforce their durable bodies. He had bought the ingredients in a small town they had passed the day before, having miscalculated the amount he had taken from Pewter City by accident. Because of that, he had kept his Pokemon in their pokeballs under suspended animation until today.

The raven-haired boy turned his gaze to his female companion "Hey, Misty."

She raised her head to look at him, chewing on her food "Uh-huh?"

"Does your Gym really have four Gym Leaders?" he asked.

Misty gave him a searching look. Eventually, she shrugged, figuring that Ash just wanted information from someone with first-hand experience "Yeah. Tedious if you ask me," she huffed "It's a rather simple process, really. Most Gym Leaders gain their qualification through a master-student relationship or as a tradition in the family that erected the very Gym."

Brock nodded along "It's simple, but effective. It's proven to be successful."

"What about Right of Conquest? Can a Trainer just win over a Gym through a battle?" Ash inquired curiously.

Misty scowled bitterly "Qualification is pretty simple, but not _that_ simple. Power does _not_ make you a legit Gym Leader! That's bullshit! When the League realized that, they sunk that ship to the bottom, like over 50 years ago."

"There is responsibility and worthiness that must be taken into account, a sort of discipline that is more easily taught through family and apprenticeship. It's rare nowadays for a Trainer to just waltz into a Gym and demand the Gym Leaders to test his worthiness. Not to mention it makes things more complicated since most Gyms already have an heir to take the title," the Pewter City native elaborated.

"But the Cerulean City Gym has four of them."

"That's 'cause they're all sisters. Sure, an arrangement can always be made. There are benefits to having more than one Gym Leader, but there are downsides too and not everyone feels that way," Brock said.

Ash nodded in agreement. When sharing power, arguments between the power-holders was a calculated risk. History books were filled with disagreements between ways to manage some estimable body that eventually led to its own demise. Misty's own reaction to his question was proof enough about not everyone having a favorable opinion of such an arrangement.

"And what about this worthiness thing? What exactly does that mean?" he asked.

His orange-haired friend laughed "Brock's being dramatic. Calling it worthiness is overglorifying it a bit. Look at it this way. If a Dr. Gregory House existed, do you think any hospital would really hire him?"

Ash stopped himself from saying the first thing that came to his mind, which was 'If I owned a hospital, I would'. He liked the character. He found his witty sarcasm funny and even tried to base his own sarcasm on it, though he wouldn't admit that to either of his human companions.

Realistically though...

"Not likely." Ash shook his head. Frankly, he still didn't understand what the character had anything to do with the topic of Gym Leaders.

"And why is that?" she further asked.

"His bedside manner sucks," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in Kanto before his eyes widened suddenly in understanding.

She smirked at his reaction "Now you get it. Manner-of-approach is vital; how they treat both their challengers and their Pokemon. There is some flexibility there of course, but the Pokemon League has standards that must be upheld. Ain't that right, Brock?"

Though appearing somewhat put out by her reductive explanation, he nodded in accord "We're Gym Leaders. We're supposed to set a moral example for other Trainers. That's a department in which we can't afford to appear hypocritical, which is why the League pays significant attention to it."

No joke. Though he only met one such Trainer eight months ago on _that day_ , Ash could easily come to the conclusion that some trainers, if not many, cared for Pokemon only as a means to an end, such as fame and glory. Very cliche, yeah.

The main problem was that most of those were abusive in a sort of way that did not warrant expulsion from the Trainer Program. Cruel and cold-hearted scolding was not by any means against the rules, just discouraged and morally frowned upon, as well as a concept that was present in more than just Trainer-Pokemon relationships.

Besides, how could Kanto or any other region claim to be a 'free region' if they didn't allow their citizens to speak their minds openly.

Brock's eyes hardened while Misty's eyes gained a sad tint to them "It's a bane of being a Gym Leader. We encounter abusive Trainers every once in a while and, _as Gym Leaders_ , are morally inclined to put up a stronger fight against them in the hopes of teaching them a lesson," the male teen said.

The ten year-old raised an eyebrow in curiosity. He had never really thought about that "And how do you recognize Trainers like that?"

He sighed sadly before responding "It doesn't come to you immediately, but after spending some time battling Trainers... you just start recognizing that look in their eyes. The worst are the ones who gain that look of unbridled rage after they lose, but don't say anything in front of you. Why? Because you know they're going to lay it on their Pokemon when they step outside of your Gym, but not knowing exactly what makes it even less bearable."

"Even freedom has its cruelties. Life truly is unfair," Misty chuckled humorlessly.

To their astonishment, Ash scoffed "Nothing in life is black and white. It's stupid to call a situation fair because it works in your favor and otherwise deem it unfair just because it's inconvenient and uncomfortable. There is no such thing as an absolutely good or an absolutely bad concept."

It was naive thinking in Ash's opinion. Even fairness was a relative term. One could argue that someone else's favorable circumstances were unfair because that someone never earned whatever fortune befell him, while another could argue that someone's misfortune was otherwise fair.

In the words of Gregory House, you don't get what you deserve, you just get what you get. Ash would better surmise it as one doesn't get what someone else believes he or she deserves _because_ they deserve it. They get what circumstances, their actions and the actions of others end up giving them.

Karma was just wishful thinking of those who didn't know how to deal with what life threw at them.

He swallowed a spoonful of Brock's delicious broth before continuing "Still, I'm sorry to hear that. I never really considered it from that perspective," Ash said sincerely. Criminal organizations were one thing, everyday Trainers were another. Oddly, the latter was in some ways a lot sadder, as well as rage-inducing.

The two Gym Leaders glanced at each other "It's fine. We know it sounds a little fucked up, but you learn to cope with it," Misty said.

None of them noticed several of their Pokemon stopped eating and listened in on their conversation, nor did they notice them staring thoughtfully at them, especially Pikachu's intent gaze at his Trainer.

* * *

"Okay, guys. You've had more or less a break this last week, but these next two weeks will be heavily focused on your training to prepare for our next Gym battle," Ash proclaimed to his Pokemon after finding a part of the field obscured from Brock's and Misty's sight.

His team nodded or grunted in understanding and eagerness. Most of last week was spent relaxing with only light physical exercises and a few battles against travelling Trainers.

"I've already decided what moves to teach all of you, but first thing's first. Squirtle, I want you to use Brine against that tree over there," He pointed at a strong-looking tree on the edge of the clearing.

Squirtle smirked and jumped to the front, happy to start with the intense training. He took a deep breath, aiming for the tree and fired a powerful blast of water. The jet of water was a noticeably deeper blue hue than before and struck the wood with great force. He maintained the attack for a few seconds before cutting of the flow, smirking at the result.

His Trainer nodded "Just like I thought. Well done, Squirtle. You learned Brine."

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon graciously took his teammates compliments as they congratulated him on his success. Meanwhile, Ash was contemplating the progress of his Pokemon.

Egg moves were moves that a Pokemon had knowledge of how to do from the moment they were born, passed down from a parent. That didn't necessarily mean they had the _ability_ to do it the moment they're born. There were physical and mental prerequisites for every move a Pokemon could perform. Egg moves fulfilled the latter, the very knowledge of _how_ to do a technique, but they didn't fulfill the former.

However, it guaranteed that a Pokemon would learn an egg move faster than most others, since a Pokemon would be able to perform the move the moment it is physically able to. It wouldn't have to go through the tedious process of acquiring the knowledge and experience of how to do the move.

More than that, if a Pokemon had an egg move that wasn't the same type as the Pokemon itself, it would learn other moves of that same type more easily, since it had limited instinctual knowledge of how to manipulate that type of energy.

For example, if a Psyduck was born with Psychic as an egg move, but could only perform Scratch and Water Gun, it was almost assured that the Psyduck would learn Confusion much faster than a Psyduck without an egg move Psychic.

Speaking of egg moves.

"Squirtle, now try and use Aqua Ring," Ash commanded.

Squirtle grunted in affirmative and concentrated, causing several rings of sparkling water to appear around him. However, instead of flowing around him smoothly, the rings appeared unstable and they promptly dissipated. The Water-type frowned, feeling downtrodden by his unsuccessful attempt.

"Don't feel bad. You'll get it eventually. Besides, all the training with Water Gun was specifically meant for you to learn Brine first," Ash said, trying to comfort him. "But I'm putting Aqua Ring on hold for now. Instead, you're gonna learn Ice Beam. Since ice is just crystallized water, their energy signature is very similar and it shouldn't be too hard for you to learn it."

He then turned to the rest "Pikachu, you've got a rough couple of weeks ahead of you. We're gonna begin unlocking Volt Tackle. We'll start by teaching you how to do Thunder, while also discarding ThunderShock for it. Apart from that, you'll be doing _a lot_ of speed exercising and learning Signal Beam too."

Pikachu groaned at the amount of work he would have to do. Suddenly, a week of resting didn't seem enough.

Ash realized he had to be a bit more careful what moves to teach Pikachu, since the electric mouse was close to reaching his maximum move capacity of 11 moves. Depending on the species, each Pokemon had a limited amount of moves it could do. For example, the first stage of all the traditional starter Pokemon could know 10 moves at max, like Squirtle, who also, by the way, would maximize his own move capacity when he has learned Ice Beam.

Discarding or 'forgetting' a move was still something of a mystery, but it's been somewhat accepted that a Pokemon's ability to do a move came mostly from instinctual knowledge, like muscle memory. The information was stored in a designated place within their mind, with each move filling a 'vacant spot' so to speak, and each species having a certain amount of them.

Another way of learning a new attack was to replace an already 'filled' spot with the knowledge of whatever new move the Pokemon was learning. Like the moves themselves, it came instinctually to a Pokemon.

"Volt tackle requires a massive electrical discharge, which is why you're going to learn Thunder, while moving at high speed, hence the speed exercises. The point of it all is to raise both to such a high level that they, in terms of power output, don't interfere much with each other. You should be able to use Volt Tackle then. Signal Beam is because you need the variety, buddy. Plus, it'll help against Grass-types too," Ash explained patiently.

Though eager to train, the other Pokemon didn't envy their teammate's training regimen, even if it was for excellent reasons. Pikachu felt the same, including his Trainer's reasoning, thus he had no way to convince himself or Ash to not make him go through with the new training program.

Still, he was very eager to start learning Volt Tackle. After all, it was the signature move of his evolutionary line and one of the most awesomely butt-kicking Electric-type moves of all. He knew how to do it, but he also knew he couldn't do it yet. It could definitely be frustrating to have the knowledge in your head, but lack the ability to put it to any good use. Like a bothersome itch you couldn't scratch.

Signal Beam sounded good too, he guessed.

Figuring Pikachu understood the purpose for his difficult training regimen, he turned to the only female of his team "Rhyhorn, you won't be yet battling in Cerulean City. Don't worry, no way am I putting you on the back burner. I'll teach you Counter and we'll try to unlock Thunder Fang. The latter shouldn't take long, being an egg move and all," the young Trainer said.

She growled happily and galloped over to him, rubbing against him. Her Trainer smiled and patted her head. She had proven to be uncommonly patient and gentle for a Rhyhorn, with a distinct, though not absolute, lack of aggressive tendencies. He mentally thanked whatever god he didn't believe in for gifting her to him before turning to the last member of his team.

"Beldum, I'm happy to say I've run across you at a most fortuitous time, due to the very recent discovery that your species _can_ learn a few other moves beyond just Take Down."

"Bel?" it exclaimed, surprised. Its species long believed that Take Down was the only attack they could do. Evolution into Metang, and the ability to learn more moves, was considered a sort of coming-of-age ritual among its kind.

"The thing is you can only learn them if you are tutored. The moves are Iron Head, Zen Headbutt and Iron Defense," Ash elaborated.

That fact had been discovered less than two years ago by Steven Stone himself, the Hoenn Champion and a Master of Steel-type Pokemon. The two damage-inducing moves were technically the same as Take Down, they just required that Beldum coat itself in either Psychic-type or Steel-type energy, both of which are the Pokemon's types. Iron Defense was merely the use of Steel-type energy to temporarily increase a Pokemon's defense, so it wasn't a long shot either.

"Thankfully, Steven Stone, the discoverer, figured out the easiest methods to teach the moves and they were added to the Pokedex. You'll be learning Iron Defense and Zen Headbutt. Later on, when both of you," he said, referring to Beldum and Rhyhorn "get a good grasp on your moves, you, Beldum, will use Zen Headbutt on Rhyhorn, while she'll be using Counter. That way the both of you get to practice your moves simultaneously."

Counter was a move that reflected physical attacks back at the user with twice the strength. Since Rhyhorn was young, he wasn't yet sure of her defensive capabilities, even though she was a Rock-type. He felt that Counter would be a good move for her in both the short and long run.

Besides that, Ash had been worried that such an exercise might do too much damage to Beldum. Ultimately, he figured his Pokemon would be fine since a Psychic-type move would be twice as weak against it due to Beldum's typing. Not to mention the move would be either not fully learnt or just about, so it wouldn't yet have much strength.

"But that's not what we're going to be focusing on the most with you," Ash said, causing the Iron Ball Pokemon to look at him confused "I've been thinking about how to best employ your Take Down attack, observing your spars and battles," He smiled a touch viciously "and I think I've finally figured out what to do."

* * *

"There he blows! Cerulean City in all its majesty!"

Majesty was the right word, Ash thought as he gazed at the settlement. Two things came to mind when he first looked at it.

One, Cerulean City was amazingly beautiful.

Two, it must look like a giant bullseye from a bird's-eye view.

The city was settled in a shallow, but wide valley with low hills and higher ground encircling most of the city. The only open parts were most of the eastern side where the path lead to Kanto's eastern coast, and a small point on the city's west side, which was open due to water corrosion, evidenced by the tall waterfall and river that created a small canyon, which people had taken advantage of to build a railroad that directly connected Cerulean and Pewter City.

The most notable thing, however, was the city's structure. It consisted of two rings, one outer and one inner, and a circular center, hence the bullsey-like appearance. The outer ring was the suburban area and far wider than the inner ring, containing mostly bungalows and two-story houses, with the odd larger building here and there, like super-markets.

The inner ring was something special, though. It didn't have any buildings. Instead, surrounding the sprawling metropolis that was the center was a giant, ring-shaped park. Colored in shades of green by the numerous trees and grass, blue by the crystal clear water of the ponds and in nuances of grey due to the walkways, bridges and roads, it was the most uniquely exquisite image Ash had ever seen. There _were_ a few houses though, probably accommodating workers responsible for the maintenance of the park.

The center itself was a true portraiture of a modern, thriving economical power, with apartment blocks and skyscrapers rising from the center of the city, as if it was a god among its mortal subjects. The young Trainer certainly was in awe of its semi-divine presence.

After he was done with his business here today, he vowed to find time for himself to come back and visit.

"He's real handsome, ain't he?" Misty said with a smile.

"He?" Brock asked confusedly, though he still appeared a bit dumbstruck by the city's 'majesty'.

The orange-haired girl smirked "Cerulean's the love of my life. He fulfills all my needs."

"How come you left then?" Ash raised an eyebrow, while, to his bewilderment, Brock blushed.

Misty gave him an 'are you stupid?' look "No healthy relationship lasts without a few separations. Duh."

He wouldn't really know anything about it, but decided not to comment. They continued sauntering towards the city, their minds straying to pleasant thoughts, especially for Ash. The training during the last two weeks had been successful, as usual. Most of them managed to learn all their respective new moves, with only a few exceptions.

Outside of that, there was time made for the usual physical exercises, sparring, coming up with combinations and strategies and such. There was also some sparring done with Misty's and Brock's Pokemon, without him using any of his Pokemon's newer attacks of course.

Needless to say, the dark-haired Trainer was quite confident in his chances to win the Cascade Badge.

After taking a short rest in the Pokemon Center, the group arrived at the Gym. The building was noticeably bigger and more elegant than Brock's back in Pewter City, situated at the very border of the suburban area and the ring-shaped park. It had a sports center look to it, appearing as if it housed a basketball and volleyball court along with the pools it undoubtedly had. On top of that, it had a great Dewgong sculpture above its entrance.

When they opened the door, the entrance hall was oddly empty, not a living soul in sight.

"I'd have thought this place would have at least someone inside, considering it functions as an aquarium alongside it being a Pokemon Gym," Ash wondered out loud. The other two wondered as well.

Suddenly, they heard noise coming from somewhere inside. To Ash, it sounded like... clapping and cheering. A crowd. Wait, what?!

Misty let out an amalgam of a groan and a sigh "My sisters must be performing. I swear, those three are dedicated in turning this facility, which is a Pokemon Gym _first and foremost,_ into a tourist shitstorm for landlubbers."

She started walking, the two males following closely behind, until she came to a rather large double door and pushed it open. The immediate roar of the crowd actually pushed back Brock and Ash a step or two and Pikachu had to cover his ears. Misty, on the other hand, stood firm with a strength and expertise that suggested common exposure.

As they suspected, the room was filled with people, who were sitting on the stands which surrounded a large pool. In the pool was a teenage girl with deep pink hair, performing a water ballet show along with several Water-type Pokemon. They were pretty good, Ash admitted.

Ash leaned over to whisper into Misty's ear "Didn't you say there were three of them?"

She nodded "Yeah, there _should_ be three of them. That down there is just Lily. I wonder where the other two dunderheads are."

After about half a minute more of dancing, Lily ended the performance and got out of the pool to wave at the crowd, causing them to cheer even louder than before. Frankly, it was starting to grate on their nerves, especially Pikachu's, who had the most acute sense of hearing.

"C'mon, guys! I know another way to get to her!" Misty shouted over the noise. The two nodded and followed her out of the room.

After climbing down a couple flights of stairs, the company entered the aquarium exhibit. Ash found it likable, despite it's simpleness. A minute later, they saw Misty's sister coming from the other end of the hall, drying her hair with a light blue towel.

"I see _all three_ of you've doing a good job of keeping our Gym afloat in my absence," Misty spoke up sarcastically.

Startled, the pretty teenager turned towards the speaker, whom she quickly recognized. Her surprised expressions quickly turned confused.

"Misty, what are you doing back so soon? Didn't you, like, say you'd come back when you became a Water Pokemon Master or something?" Lily asked.

The raven-haired boy was already somewhat unimpressed. The girl spoke in the annoying valley girl speech, usually spoken among the spoiled, moronic class of humanity. Though he knew better than to judge too soon or too superficially, if the other two were similar to Lily, he could understand why they and Misty didn't get along.

"I'm here only for today, if you must know. I'm traveling with company and one of them has business with you," her younger sister said sharply, pointing behind her with her thumb.

The youngest of the Sensational Sisters looked towards where she pointed and saw two people, one of which she recognized. A big grin suddenly appeared on her face and ran towards the two males at bullet speed. Caught by surprise, Ash didn't have any time to react, but fortunately, he didn't have to. Lily had barreled into the older male, hugging him around the neck, who was quick to reciprocate.

Misty's jaw dropped while Ash just blinked in confusion.

"Baby, what are you doing here?" she asked in a happy tone, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

"I'm traveling with these two so I can learn more about being a Breeder. Dad came back and took over the Gym, so that part is covered," the teenager in question answered, smile almost as big as Lily's.

"Really? That's, like, spectacular!" Lily giggled cheerfully while pulling back, though still holding on to him. Then, much to the other two's astonishment, promptly leaned forward to kiss the brunette on the mouth.

The young Trainer stared blankly at them, his surprise waning and replaced by easy acceptance. So what? A boy and a girl met and got together. Big woof. Looking at Misty and her jaw even closer to the ground than before, he figured it wasn't quite same for her.

"Okay, Okay! That's enough!" the orange-haired Gym Leader quickly interjected, pushing the two apart "When the hell did this happen?"

"Oh, about... one and a half year ago," Lily responded thoughtfully, looking at Brock, who made the 'more or less' hand gesture.

Misty's face scrunched up in contemplation "Wait. He," She pointed at the male Gym Leader "is that boyfriend that you never told me the name of. The boyfriend that you'd go and visit for several days. Sometimes over a week."

"That's right." Her sister smiled cheekily.

"But he had his family to take care of. He couldn't leave Pewter City," Ash commented politely, crossing his arms. If the responsible and sagacious Brock found her likable enough to date her and were obviously still going strong a year and a half later, then there was definitely more to her than what appearances initially suggested.

"Well, mostly I visit him. The trains that go between our two cities are high-speed trains. Like, over a 150 miles per hour. It's a two hour trip max," she explained.

"Yeah, but how could he pay attention to you and his siblings at the same time?" Misty asked, still confused.

"That wasn't _so_ much trouble. I love kids!" she exclaimed giddily, like a child in a candy store.

Misty raised a disbelieving eyebrow in response.

"It's true. She and they really get along, they're practically family. Well, my sisters weren't too happy at the start, but they got over it soon. Of course, we always managed to get some time for ourselves. There's a married couple who can't have kids due to the husband being sterile. I often hire them as babysitters. How do you think I had the time to run the Gym while having my siblings to take care of?" Brock said.

"And besides, out of all of us, I was, like, definitely the free-spirit. I don't mind travelling." Lily shrugged.

Suddenly, the orange-haired girl's face looked as if she had bitten into the world's most sour lemon. Her eyes shined with such a deep bitterness and anger, had he been a religious fanatic, Ash would compare them to the likeness of the fiery pits of hell. He was honestly surprised by the level of negative emotions displayed in her expression.

"So you and they are like family, huh? Must be nice for those kids to have a _sister_ like you," she growled through gritted teeth, her voice wafting enough coldness to freeze all the world's oceans "I certainly wouldn't know it."

All of them, except for the raven-haired Trainer, took a prompt step back, somewhat unnerved. Even Pikachu hid behind his head, peeking around it in fear. What the hell happened to the girl who would scratch and rub him on his head after training? Pikachu liked that one a lot more than the scary Dark-type that was standing in the middle of the hallway.

In the midst of the mild fear, however, Ash saw guilt on Lily's face. He narrowed his eyes. From spending time with Misty, he had easily concluded that she and the other three Waterflowers didn't see eye to eye, most likely because of neglect on the the part of the older sisters. But he hadn't actually expected feelings of shame from them, at least not so early. Teenagers and young adults were often like that, judgmental and not realizing how their insensitivity affected other people.

In his opinion, that was a point in her favor.

Misty took a deep breath and exhaled, composing herself. After managing to make her face adopt a neutral expression, she continued "Where are Violet and Daisy?"

Coughing to hydrate her suddenly dry throat, Lily answered "Daisy came in second place at the beauty contest last week and won a trip to the East Kanto Beach Resort with all expenses paid for her and a friend. Needles to say, I drew the short straw."

Misty sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose "Just forget it. The whole reason we sailed here was for Ash to have his Gym battle, so let's get back to that," she said, to which said Trainer nodded gratefully. Even he was feeling his considerable patience run thin.

Lily winced apologetically "Sorry, but my Pokemon are pretty tired. We had a battle before the show today and I barely had any time to get them healed. That girl was a tough cookie."

"Pallet Town kid?" Ash asked, cocking his head slightly. He remembered one of his neighbors, Jennifer, who had gotten a starter the same day he and Gary did. She was a nice enough girl, not to mention impressively cunning, but also quite choleric and determined at times. He could imagine her giving the pink-haired Gym Leader a hard time.

She sighed dramatically "Yeah. Prof. Oak never does things half-assed when it comes to his students."

"Don't I know it?" the dark-haired boy said with a brief chuckle. "Well, it's not a problem either way. I was actually planning to ask Misty all along, if she would have me."

Lily smirked gleefully at her sister "So forward."

"Shut up!" Misty snapped back. She then looked at her younger travelling companion with an exasperated but still fond expression, while the couple tried to stifle their giggles "Ash, sweetie, you really need to choose your words more wisely or someone might take what you say the wrong way."

Ash furrowed his brow in confusion, but soon after, realization dawned on him and he blushed. He threw a deadpan scowl at the lightly giggling 13 year-old girl "You _know_ what I mean."

"Yeah and I accept your challenge," she answered, deciding to take pity on him.

The boy gave a small smile of relief, his cheeks returning to their normal hue and followed her as she walked down the long hallway. Finally, the two of them would have a real, official match. No one could blame either of them for being excited, the eagerness apparent even in their calm expression. A right turn and less than a minute later, they reached a large double door, which the young Gym Leader pushed open.

Ash inspected the room he and his carrot-top companion were going to battle in. It was a very large pool with circular platforms spread around the surface. Interestingly enough, the platforms on the challenger's side were connected with passages, probably to allow the challenger's Pokemon more mobility. The platforms on the Gym Leader's side were fewer and unconnected, unnecessary due to the Cerulean City Gym's usage of Water-type Pokemon.

"Brock, would you mind being the referee for this battle?" Misty asked, to which he nodded. Ash was a bit surprised, figuring her sister should do it as a hostess of the Gym. She was most likely still a bit bitter towards Lily due to recent events, so he dwelt no further on it.

After asking Lily about the Gym's rules, the brunette stood on the ref's podium and spoke loudly "This is a three-on-three battle between Misty Waterflower of the Cerulean City Gym and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town! Only the challenger may substitute! By the local Gym's rules, the Gym Leader will be the first to choose a Pokemon! Now, begin!"

"Staryu, let's rock this boat!" she yelled, releasing her first Pokemon.

Ash smirked slightly, but kept his mind focused. While she may use only her recent captures, except for Starmie, he knew it didn't actually mean she would make it easy for him. He'd be insulted otherwise.

"I choose you, Squirtle!" he shouted while throwing his pokeball.

"Squirtle!"the Tiny Turtle Pokemon cried, elated for the new battle.

The rookie trainer figured that Chinchou would be her next Pokemon and he'd rather not have Squirtle fighting against him in a predominantly aquatic battlefield. Pikachu's Lightning Rod ability was a perfect match for it, so he was saving the electric rodent for the next battle.

"Challenger has the first move!" Misty called out.

Ash nodded "Squirtle, use Brine!"

Squirtle's mouth bloated and he fired a powerful jet of water at his opponent.

"Use Water Pulse, Staryu!" the Gym Leader commanded.

The Starfish Pokemon created an orb of water in front of its top tentacle and fired it at the incoming attack. The two met in the middle of the field, creating an explosion of water.

"Use Skull Bash!"

A white energy-coated form suddenly plowed through the water and headed straight for Staryu.

Misty smirked "Use Flash!"

The orb on the Water-type Pokemon's body released a powerful, bright glow, blinding the Tiny Turtle Pokemon and changing the trajectory of his attack. Ash gritted his teeth slightly at the failed move.

"Quickly, Rapid Spin while he's still blind, Staryu!" Misty shouted.

Staryu began spinning like a super-powered windmill, heading for Squirtle. The move hit him head on, causing Squirtle to cry out in pain.

"Water Propulsion! Come back to this side of the field, Squirtle!" Ash quickly commanded.

Despite the pain, his Pokemon heard him and retracted his head and limbs. He used Water Gun from inside the shell, propelling himself towards his Trainer's side of the field, landing on his feet on one of the platforms.

"Are you ok?" Ash asked a bit worriedly.

"Squirt Squirtle!" the Pokemon nodded.

"Not Bad, Ash! That was good reaction time!" the orange-haired girl praised him. The raven-haired boy just nodded with a grateful smile.

"Squirtle, Water Gun!" he yelled.

"Dodge into the water, Staryu!" Misty ordered.

Staryu jumped into the water, dodging the high-powered blast of water. Ash thought about his next move before he settled for Squirtle to follow it into the pool. As long as he was above the surface, Staryu would have a greater chance of landing a surprise hit.

"You dive too, Squirtle!" he ordered.

His Pokemon dived into the pool enthusiastically, glad to be in his element. As soon as he did, he saw his opponent about eight to ten meters in front of him.

Suddenly, the screen that was situated above the stands on Ash's right (and Misty's left) lit up and showed several shots of their Pokemon under the water at different angles. From what he could see, the cameras were attached to the underside of the platforms in the pool. They were obviously installed in the case two Water-type Pokemon were fighting under the water's surface.

"Staryu, use Gyro Ball!" Misty shouted.

Like before, the Starfish Pokemon started spinning, but much more rapidly this time with a light blue ring of energy surrounding it. The rotation generated fast moving foam around its form before heading straight for its opponent with a trail of foam and distorted water behind it, looking very much like a torpedo. Hopefully, it won't hurt like one.

"Dodge it, Squirtle!" the raven-haired Trainer yelled.

Ash's Water-type followed through, avoiding the Steel-type move. However, to their surprise, Staryu circled around like a boomerang and charged back at Squirtle, successfully scoring a hit this time.

"Damn it!" Ash growled. He then understood how tough of an adversary his traveling companion was going to be. He had to think of something.

"One more time!" the Gym Leader commanded confidently.

"We'll see about that! Stay where you are, Squirtle, and use Rapid Spin! Full power!" Ash yelled.

As the Starfish Pokemon went for another go, Squirtle started spinning in place as fast as he could, creating a miniature vortex. When Staryu struck it, what Ash hoped would happen did. It changed Staryu's trajectory, disrupted the Gyro Ball and it became trapped in the vortex. He then was glad more than ever for all the practice they did with that move.

"Get out of there, Staryu!" Misty yelled worriedly.

As much as her Pokemon tried to, all the practice of using Rapid Spin as a defense move while _outside the water_ , made it that much stronger while in the water, his element, making it practically impossible for Staryu to escape.

"Awesome job, buddy! Use Skull Bash!" the raven-haired Trainer shouted confidently.

His Pokemon stopped mid-spin, stuck his head out, aimed and fired. White energy surrounded him as he propelled himself faster than ever before. The move struck, causing Staryu significant damage, with the momentum causing both of them to break the water's surface.

"Ice Beam, while it's in the air!" he quickly commanded, Squirtle responding by manifesting an orb of Ice-type energy in front his mouth.

"Staryu, boomerang out of the way and back into the water!"

To Ash's momentary surprise, the starfish used Rapid Spin to spin like a, you guessed it, boomerang. It swiveled in mid-air and rose higher, effectively dodging the Ice Beam that its opponent unleashed before aiming for the pool.

The raven-haired Trainer knew that Misty had a distinct advantage in underwater combat, due to her specializing and superior experience. Trying to fight her that way was equivalent to waving a white flag.

Dear God, he was even starting to use her metaphors.

"Squirtle, aim your Ice Beam at the water on Misty's side! Don't let Staryu submerge!"

"What?! Staryu, lighten your fall with Water Gun!" the orange-haired girl quickly ordered.

The Tiny Turtle's attack managed to freeze most of the surface on Misty's side by the time her Pokemon stopped and followed through with her orders. Unfortunately, while the Water Gun managed to slow it down some, the boomerang maneuver caused it to come in too hot and it crashed painfully on its side of the pool. To Misty's consolation, Staryu at least didn't crash hard enough to break the ice.

"Staryu, are you ok?" the Gym Leader asked worriedly. Her answer was her Pokemon steadily getting to its 'feet', a few scratches on her form, but otherwise fine.

"Let's wrap this up, Squirtle! Use Iron Tackle!" Ash shouted confidently.

Squirtle retracted his limbs before using the Water Propulsion maneuver to blast himself towards his opponent, glowing a distinct silver sheen while doing it. Brock and Misty immediately recognized it as the same move that Ash used against the former's Onix.

"Staryu, Surf!" Misty yelled sternly.

The Starfish Pokemon swiftly obliged, manifesting great volumes of water and forming a wave. It rode on top of it, effectively dodging the attack to Ash and Squirtle's misfortune, causing the latter to collide with the large wave of water.

While it didn't force him back, nor stop him, it slowed him down considerably and disrupted the Water Propulsion, ending with Squirtle skidding on the ice.

"Slam him with Gyro Ball!"

Staryu leaped from the wave and started spinning rapidly, the distinct light blue circle surrounding its body as it raced down with the intention of smashing the defenseless Water-type.

"Iron Defense! Quickly!" Ash yelled near-frantically.

But it was too late. The move slammed down on his Pokemon from above, breaking through the ice. After a few seconds, Staryu jumped from the water and unto one of the platforms. Squirtle, on the other hand, just floated to the surface with swirls in his eyes.

"Squirtle is unable to battle! The winner of this round is Staryu!" Brock announced.

"Good job, Staryu! You showed him!" Misty said proudly.

Ash sighed in slight disappointment, but gave his downed Pokemon a proud glance "You did great, Squirtle. Take a rest." He returned the knocked out Pokemon and looked down at Pikachu standing next to him.

"You're up, buddy."

"Pika!" he cried out excitedly and jumped onto one of the platforms, cheeks sparking.

"The round between Staryu and Pikachu begin!" Brock yelled.

"Give him a round of Bubble Beam!" the carrot-top girl ordered.

The Water-type fired a barrage of high-powered bubbles at its adversary.

"Jump above it and use Thunder Wave, Pikachu!"

The yellow rodent easily leaped above the attack and released a wave of electricity towards Staryu.

"Dodge it!" Misty shouted. However, Ash smirked.

Her Pokemon moved to the side, but, to its and its Trainer's astonishment and horror, when the Thunder Wave hit the surface of the platform she was once standing on, it spread throughout that side of the field and hit Staryu, paralyzing it.

"How?" Misty asked loudly, looking at her challenger.

He kept smirking before gesturing beneath her "Look at your side of the battlefield!"

She looked down and it took her a few moments to notice it. The ice and the platforms were covered in water.

"The water form the Surf attack Staryu used," she said.

He smiled "Exactly, and water conducts electricity! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu obeyed, firing a powerful blast of electricity at his opponent, who was unable to dodge both due to the paralysis and the water spread out along the side of the field.

After a few seconds, the attack halted and Staryu fell backwards, the orb on its body glowing on and off.

"Staryu is unable to battle! The winner is Pikachu!" Brock announced loudly.

Misty recalled her Pokemon while her challenger and his Pokemon seemed to stand a little taller. She smirked internally. Naive fool. She took out another pokeball and threw it "Time to shine, Chinchou!"

The Angler Pokemon appeared on top of the ice with a smile on his face, ready for battle.

"The round Between Chinchou and Pikachu begin!"

"Give her a Signal Beam, Pikachu!" Ash yelled out first.

A multi-colored orb appeared in front of the Mouse Pokemon's mouth before firing it at Chinchou.

"Dodge it and use Hydro Pump!" Misty ordered.

Her Pokemon jumped to the side, evading the attack, and unleashed a powerful torrent of water at her opponent.

"Dodge with Quick Attack, get in close and use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu followed through, dodging the move while simultaneously getting closer to the Angler Pokemon, his tail glowing a bright silver in preparation.

"We'll see about that! Spark Sock 'em, Chinchou!" the Gym Leader commanded.

Ash was confused by her order, but nevertheless prepared himself for something unorthodox... which was exactly what he got. The lantern-like ends of Chinchou's antennas glowed a bright yellow, electrical sparks emanating from them for a few seconds. He easily recognized the move as Spark. Chinchou got in a ready position.

Pikachu brought the Iron Tail upon his opponent, but, he used one of the brightly glowing antennas to block his attack, rearing up the other one at the same time before bringing it forward and smacking him painfully across his face, causing him to fly back.

"Try and land on one of the platforms, Pikachu!" Ash yelled out worriedly.

Thankfully, the electric mouse succeeded, righting himself and landing safely.

The Trainer didn't hesitate to admit that that was a most interesting tactic. But it just made the battle all that more fun. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't have a few of his own tricks up his sleeve.

"Now, get in close and use Iron Tail again, but combine with Agility this time! Dodge her attacks and hit whenever you can!" he ordered.

"You do that too, Chinchou! Use Spark Sock 'em with Agility!" Misty shouted.

The two got in close to each other and traded blows in what looked like a coordinated battle dance. Dodging, parrying, blocking and occasionally scoring a hit, the two were evenly matched.

"Hmmm," Brock mused, gaining Lily's attention, standing right behind him "Misty's risking it a little, but it's a good combo nonetheless."

"How so?" She asked confusedly.

"Normally, Pikachu only has the ability Static, but Ash's has also unlocked the hidden ability Lightning Rod, which renders him immune to Electric attacks _and_ powers up his own energy based moves." he explained, surprising her.

"If that's true, then, like, why is she using Spark to fight against his Pikachu, assuming she knows about the unlocked hidden ability?" Lily voiced her confusion.

"Oh, she's fully aware of it, but I think it's because Spark is concentrated to only enforce the antennas and raise their physical power, keeping the electrical output to a minimum, therefore rendering Lightning Rod virtually useless against that attack. Not only that, but since the electrical energy is concentrated internally, it seems to be shielding Chinchou from the effects of Pikachu's Static." the brunette said, a smile appearing on his face "Impressive, to say the least."

His girlfriend just whistled in appreciation.

Ash managed to remain calm as he thought his situation through. Figuring that remaining close was useless, he called out his next command "Jump back, Pikachu, and use Signal Beam again!"

The yellow rodent jumped back onto one of the platforms on Ash's side and fired the Bug-type attack at his opponent.

"Match him, Chinchou! Use Signal Beam too!" Misty ordered.

The Angler Pokemon duplicated Pikachu's actions, releasing his own Signal Beam. The two met in the middle, colliding against one another, neither giving in for a few moments before exploding at the point of impact.

Misty tried to see Pikachu through the smoke, but eventually settled for waiting for it to clear, figuring Ash wouldn't be able to do anything until then as well.

She was understandably caught off guard when he shouted "Now, Pikachu! Signal Beam!"

The attack came from where she least expected: underwater quite close to her Pokemon. It gave her no time to react. The multi-colored beam struck Chinchou, eliciting a cry of pain and causing him to fly back closer to Misty, swirls in his eyes. Pikachu leaped from the water and landed on a platform.

"How?" Misty asked calmly, regaining her composure.

"I commanded Pikachu to go underwater right after the explosion, so you wouldn't hear me!" he said proudly.

She nodded, though only partially satisfied "That still doesn't explain how Pikachu answered to your command while underwater!"

"It was a risky move, really! Water-type Pokemon can hear clearly while underwater because they're,.. well, _Water-type Pokemon_ , but I relied on the fact that the Pikachu species has one of the most acute senses of hearing among all Pokemon and the fact that water conducts sound waves! In all honesty, it was mostly luck that he heard me!" he said the last part with a seemingly nonchalant shrug.

The other people in the room just sweat-dropped at his comment.

Misty sighed and returned her Pokemon "You did great, Chinchou. Thanks." She then pulled out another pokeball and threw it high, releasing her last Pokemon "Let's go, Starmie!"

The rookie trainer looked at Misty's starter with apprehension before looking at his own. Pikachu was panting slightly and had a few small bruises from the Close Combat-like exchange with Chinchou. If Pikachu lost, and Ash felt he most likely would, that left only Beldum to fight Starmie. Despite having trained relentlessly in the past two weeks, he still had a very limited moveset and very limited movement.

The best strategy, at the moment, seemed to be for Pikachu to wound Starmie as much as possible and then hope that the unorthodox attack combinations he taught the Iron Ball Pokemon would provide enough unpredictability to ensure victory.

"The round between Starmie and Pikachu begin!" Brock announced.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.

"PikaCHUUU!" he cried out, unleashing a powerful blast of electricity.

"Dodge and use Bubble Beam!" the orange-haired girl shouted.

The Mysterious Pokemon evaded the attack before firing a barrage of high-powered bubbles.

"Destroy them with Iron Tail!" Ash yelled.

The electric mouse retaliated by skillfully smacking them all into oblivion with the Steel-type move. However, just as he destroyed the last one he was enveloped in blue light that prevented him from moving. Both Trainer and Pokemon turned to look at Starmie, whose jewel core was glowing in the same color.

 _It's using Psychic,_ Ash thought, recognizing the move.

"Now, give 'em a Water Pulse!" Misty shouted confidently.

An orb of water appeared on the peak of the dual Water/Psychic-type's uppermost 'arm' before it fired, successfully hitting Pikachu and evoking a cry of pain.

"Pikachu, you alright?" the raven-haired boy asked worriedly.

"P-Pika," said his Pokemon somewhat shakily, slowly but steadily getting to his feet.

"Okay! It's time to put practice into action, Pikachu! Use Laser Circus!" he ordered.

Next to Pikachu, three additional copies appeared, signifying the use of Double Team, before they all charged at Starmie at great speed, letting off white streaks behind them. Immediately after, they all started moved in zigzag motions, the white streaks crisscrossing each other. To the two spectators, it appeared as if four different beams of light were headed towards Misty's Pokemon.

"He's combined Double Team with Quick Attack and Agility. The zigzagging and crisscrossing makes it impossible to determine which is the real one," Brock said out loud, impressed once again with the Trainers ingenuity.

"Starmie, use Rapid Spin to destroy them all!" the Gym Leader commanded.

The Pokemon started spinning swiftly, dissipating the three that tried to strike it, proving them to be the copies.

"Stop the Rapid Spin with Iron Tail, Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

Thanks to the speed and momentum of the Quick Attack/Agility combination, he managed to halt Starmie's spinning when he struck one of its 'arms'.

"Now, use Thunderbolt!"

"Use Rapid Spin in the other direction to knock him off!"

Unfortunately, though it managed to knock the yellow mouse away, the Mysterious Pokemon wasn't fast enough to do it before being struck by the powerful Electric-type attack and suffering noticeable damage, the Iron Tail having functioned as an efficient conductor.

Even if Chinchou's Spark Sock 'em attack had minimal electric output, it wasn't nonexistent, thus it had still raised the power of Pikachu's energy based attacks, even if only by little. Ash figured that was why Chinchou was knocked out after just one Signal Beam.

"Now, use the Ice Prison Combo!" Misty ordered.

"What's with these two and their pretty combinations?" Lily asked sarcastically.

Brock chuckled "Apparently, they share the trait of creating unique combinations, using attacks in more ways than one and then giving them original names. It's not a bad thing either way. It gives them a vital trait and highly valued virtue in battle." He turned to look at them with a small smile/smirk.

"Unpredictability."

Just as Pikachu landed onto a platform, Starmie's jewel glowed blue again, but instead of capturing Pikachu in the Psychic attack, as he and Ash had expected, it took hold and raised a noticeable volume of water from the pool. It enveloped he Electric-type Pokemon in it, trapping him in a large orb of the liquid.

"Pikachu!" the raven-haired Trainer yelled worriedly.

The Water-type Pokemon then fired an Ice Beam at the orb, freezing both the water and Pikachu inside it. Ash could only look on in a mixture of awe and horror, the reason behind the name of the combo finally dawning upon him.

"Power Gem, Starmie!"

The jewel core part of its body glowed bright pink before unleashing a white-and-pink energy beam at the 'ice prison', cleanly cutting through it before exploding. After the smoke cleared, Pikachu was seen lying on the platform with swirls in his eyes.

"Pikachu is unable to battle! The winner of this round is Starmie!"

Ash walked onto the platform, picked his starter up and walked back to the challenger's podium while reassuring Pikachu that he did an awesome job. After putting him in his backpack, but keeping it open so that he could see the upcoming battle, Ash pulled out Beldum's pokeball.

"Go, Beldum!" he shouted.

The Iron Ball Pokemon appeared on its side of the field, levitating above the platforms.

"The final round between Starmie and Beldum begin!"

"Water Pulse, Starmie!" Misty ordered.

The starfish fired the orb of water at its opponent.

"Take Down Maneuver!" Ash shouted.

Beldum coated itself in a yellow and white energy and, to the astonishment of Brock and the Waterflower sisters, dodged the move with far more speed than a Pokemon of its weight and form should have been able to.

Misty quickly composed herself "Water Pulse again! Rapid fire!"

"Keep dodging them, Beldum!" Ash commanded.

Starmie unleashed several high-powered orbs, one after another, but the Steel-type Pokemon just evaded them all with the same speed as before.

Brock suddenly shifted in understanding "I see."

The Sensational Sister turned to him with a questioning look "How's it doing that?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Take Down is almost the exact same as Tackle, but uses the Normal-type energy coating to significantly increase the speed and power of the attack. It seems Ash taught Beldum to use that energy to increase its speed and only its speed. Since Beldum isn't hitting anything, there is no recoil damage," he elaborated, causing her to look back at Beldum and its Trainer with no little awe and admiration.

As the Steel-type got closer to the Water-type, the rookie Trainer gave his next order "Now, use Boomerang Take Down!"

Without losing much, if any, momentum, Beldum started spinning around its axis, the speed causing the yellow-white energy to shine brighter and struck Starmie in a painful tackle. It sent its opponent back skidding across the ice, nearly falling into one of the holes made in the previous battles.

"Again, Beldum!" Ash shouted.

"Not this time! Surf, Starmie!" the carrot-top girl commanded.

Despite the power of the Boomerang Take Down, Beldum did not manage to penetrate through the large wave of water and was instead swept back painfully, its attack dissipated. Fortunately, it managed to right itself in the air and remain levitating, though it required a lot of effort.

"Starmie, use Thunderbolt on the ice, then use Psychic to send the shards at Beldum!"

The Mysterious Pokemon did as ordered, destroying a large part of the ice that still remained with Thunderbolt and using Psychic to launch the shards at its adversary.

"Destroy them with Take Down!" Ash quickly shouted.

Beldum moved left and right, both dodging and destroying the ice shards while using its move, when it was suddenly struck on its left side. The Iron Ball Pokemon and its Trainer quickly saw that it was Starmie using Rapid Spin, moving through the air like a boomerang, just like Beldum did not a minute ago.

"Use Hydro Pump, Starmie!" Misty ordered.

Starmie instantly stopped spinning and aimed a powerful torrent of water at Beldum.

"Iron Defense, Beldum!" Ash ordered frantically, knowing that a direct hit would end it all.

It was partially successful as the Pokemon managed to glow a bright silver, but got struck before it could finish the status move completely. The result was Beldum lying on one of the platforms, soaking wet and cracks underneath it on the concrete surface, heavily injured but not out and its eye shut in pain and exhaustion.

"Beldum," Ash said quietly, looking at his Pokemon with pain in his eyes.

The Gym Leader looked at them stoically for a few moments, eventually speaking up "It's over, Ash! There is no need for Beldum to get more hurt! I admire your determination... but it's also good to know when you're beaten and cut your losses!"

He looked at her angrily at first, but his eyes soon softened and he sighed rather despondently, knowing she was right. He was about to give up when Beldum suddenly opened its eye, determination as visible as the moon in the night sky. It slowly and shakily levitated.

"B-Beldum." it said.

Ash was looking at his Pokemon, flabbergasted, but he shook his head and spoke sternly "That's enough, Beldum!" He then switched to a gentler tone "You did a great job, but there is nothing more we can do. We will train and come back stronger and _then_ we'll be able to defeat her."

To his confusion, Beldum shook its head, still looking at him with the same determination. The raven-haired Trainer was about to insist they quit when the Iron Ball Pokemon's form was suddenly cloaked in a powerful white light, surprising all of the spectators. Beldum's shape was visibly changing in front of them, expanding, and the white light dissolved, the newly-evolved Pokemon revealing itself.

"Metang!"

Ash, like the rest of the people in the room, just looked wide-eyed at his Metang "I stand corrected," he said, his face breaking into a large smile.

He pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the newly-evolved Pokemon.

 **Metang, the Iron Claw Pokemon and the evolved form of Beldum. The claws tipping its arms pack the destructive power to tear through thick iron sheets as if they were silk. It flies at over 60 miles per hour. It has learned the moves Metal Claw, Confusion, Magnet Rise and Zen Headbutt.**

The raven-haired boy toned down his joy somewhat, but kept a small grin on his face as he put the device back into his pocket. With his Pokemon having evolved, Metang was mostly healed. On the other hand, Starmie was still injured and exhausted, so the odds were quite likely now on his side.

Misty narrowed her eyes at his expression, internally scoffing at his audacity "Wipe that disgusting grin off your face, skippy! As far as I'm concerned, this ain't over yet! Starmie, use Hydro Pump!"

"Dodge and use Zen Headbutt, Metang!" the challenger ordered.

It easily dodged the incoming Hydro Pump before charging at its opponent with its head glowing blue.

"Protect!" the Gym Leader shouted.

A green, dome-shaped force field appeared around the starfish Pokemon, efficiently deflecting from Metang's attack. After the failed attempt, the Iron Claw Pokemon immediately flew back at the orders of its Trainer. Ash narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Starmie, hit 'em with a Thunderbolt!"

Misty's Pokemon obeyed, unleashing a powerful bolt of electricity at Metang.

"Cut through it with Metal Claw and strike Starmie with it!"

The dual Steel/Psychic-type charged at Starmie, moving to the left to evade the Thunderbolt, but allowing the glowing claws on its right hand to cut through it. When it got close, the Pokemon swung the electrified Metal Claw at the Water-type Pokemon, dealing a painful blow, electrical sparks coming off its body.

"Starmie!" Misty yelled concernedly.

"That's paralysis!" Lily said, shocked at the turn of events.

Her boyfriend nodded "It used Metal Claw to transfer the electricity, since metal is a conductor. That was pretty much an improvised Thunder Punch."

"One more and it's all over! Metang, use Boomerang Take Down!" Ash commanded.

Metang stretched out its arms on each side of its body, coating itself in the distinctive Normal-type energy before revolving rapidly, rushing at Starmie.

Misty looked on dispassionately for a moment before a small smile broke out "Use Gyro Ball, Starmie."

The Mysterious Pokemon started spinning as well and then headed for a collision course with Metang's Boomerang Take Down. The two met in the middle of the battlefield, the collision generating sparks and a small shockwave. They were seemingly in a stalemate, but Metang won out a mere two seconds later, sending Starmie flying back. It landed beyond the battlefield and almost impacted the wall of the room.

Its jewel core was glowing on and off.

"Starmie is unable to battle! The winner of this round is Metang! Since the Gym Leader has used up all of her Pokemon, the victor of this match is the challenger Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"Brock announced loudly.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief and smiled "We won! Good job, Metang. I'm proud of you," he said to his recently-evolved Pokemon, putting a hand on its head, who simply eye smiled in happiness and pride.

They heard a slow clap and turned to look at Misty who was approaching them. She was smiling a them while clapping her hands "Awesomely done, y'all. Ash, for the exemplary display of teamwork, strategy and improvisation, you and your Pokemon have rightfully earned the Cascade Badge."

She inserted her hand into her bag and pulled it out a few seconds later, the badge between her index finger and thumb. He took it and put it in his badge case that he pulled out from his rucksack.

"Thanks. That was an awesome battle, even though you held back," the raven-haired boy said.

Misty raised an eyebrow "You wouldn't have had _any_ chance of winning otherwise. I used a level I deemed was enough to test you and you came out on top. If I had used Starmie with all the capability I could, I would have breezed through your entire team. No offense."

Ash nodded "Yeah, I know. I figured that when you told it to used Protect against Metang. You could have used it multiple times during the battle, but you didn't. Not only that, I bet Starmie also knows moves like Recover."

She smirked cheekily "Yeah, it does. Starmie also consciously held back on her attacks during the battle. Otherwise, that Hydro Pump would have finished Beldum even with Iron Defense. By the way, it wasn't really knocked out, it merely pretended because we deemed that you've done enough to pass the test."

He felt his spirits deflate a little at that "Oh."

"Wanna see something cool?" she smirked as Brock patted the boy on the back consolingly.

Ash gave her a bewildered look before nodding. He followed her as she lead them out of the room and into another corridor, wondering what she would show him. After pushing through a double door, the rookie Trainer saw that they were in another room with a pool, only this one was somewhat bigger. The orange-haired girl walked over to the edge and leaned over to look down.

Just as he thought that she was about to jump in while wearing her casual clothes, a massive shape suddenly rose from the water. After the water receded, they could all see that it was a massive, terror-inspiring Gyarados. Instead of attacking, which its scowl made it look like it wanted to do, it swam closer to the youngest Cerulean City Gym Leader and let her rub its snout.

"Hey, big guy. I've missed you. Can you please call the rest of the gang up here?" she said gentler than her two companions had ever heard her.

The Atrocious Pokemon nodded happily and dived back into the pool. Less than a minute later, several more Pokemon rose from the water alongside Gyarados. From left to right, Ash recognized them as a Tentacruel, Dewgong, Crawdaunt, Poliwrath, Lapras, Jellicent and... an Omastar _._

"Wow," he said, an unusual rush of giddy excitement coursing through him "You've even got a fossil Pokemon."

"Yep. All of them are my little barnacles. I came here to take them with me when we leave," she said with a proud smile.

"Is this the team you used when you attended the Regional Championship?" asked Brock, inspecting the Pokemon with a Breeder's eye.

"Yeah. All of them, except Poliwrath, Jellicent and Lapras. I hadn't caught them then yet," Misty responded.

"If I may ask, how far did you get in the Indigo Conference?" Ash asked, interest visible in his eyes. He had thought about asking her multiple times during their journey, but it always seemed to slip his mind.

She smiled at him innocently as she rubbed her Dewgong's head "The top 4."

...

What?!

No one could blame the two males for being dumbfounded by the statement. It was an extraordinary achievement, and even that might be an understatement. Reaching the top 16 on your first try was praise-worthy, but to reach the top 4 with a predominant type took prodigious skill and talent. Lance, the Kanto/Johto Champion himself, had reached the top 4 on his first try about 19 years ago.

At that moment, they both wondered if they were looking at the future Kan-Joh Champion.

Unbeknown to them, Lily was smiling proudly at her baby sister.

"I also came in second at the Silver Conference a year later. Only because I lost to that little barbie, Karen. Granted, she _is_ Agatha's apprentice and over 3 years my senior," Misty muttered, pouting slightly.

Though a great achievement as well, the blow was mostly lessened by the previous revelation. "I've heard of her. She is expected to take over Agatha's position in the Elite Four. A Dark-type Master, right?" The raven-haired Trainer inquired.

She nodded "With a secondary proclivity for Ghost-types. They'll have an all-out match this November and if Karen wins, she'll become the youngest Elite Four member ever at 17 years old. My next goal on the road to becoming the greatest Water-type Master ever is to beat that record."

"You want to become one of the Elite Four?" Ash was rather caught off guard by the declaration, though he really shouldn't have. Many Trainers desire to become members of the prestigious group.

She shrugged "Seems like a good goal to me. I might not be as... enthusiastic about it as some other Pokemon Trainers, but that's because it's a milestone in the grand scheme of my plan. There are greater treasures to unbury."

Ash could understand that, taking into account his own exorbitant goal. There is no clear definition of what a Pokemon Master is - some say it's catching every known Pokemon and others say it's defeating all the six Champions* - but it's far greater than being an Elite Four member.

"You seem to have a preference for Water-type Pokemon with dual typing," Brock noted.

"It's always good to have variety, and knowing how to use their other types makes it easier for me to counter them in battle. That's one of my secrets to success. You wanna specialize? Start out with dual types and get some experience and training done before moving on to single ones," Misty said, back straight with her index finger in the air in the classic teacher's pose.

Ash full-heartedly agreed with that. Dual type Pokemon could usually learn a greater variety of moves. Not just of their two respective types, but of other types too. Many types shared elemental similarities with one or two other types and Pokemon were thus highly capable of learning the moves of those with such similar characteristics.

Best examples, virtually all Water-type Pokemon were able to learn Ice Beam and Blizzard, most Ghost-types had an inclination towards Psychic and Dark-type attacks and Ground-types usually didn't have a too hard time learning moves like Rock Slide, Rock Tomb or Stone Edge.

"Hey, Brock!" The three companions turned to stare at Lily, who was approaching her boyfriend's position, having stayed behind in the duration of their conversation. She stopped in front of him with a large smile and her hands clasped behind her back "Did you bring it?"

Brock looked confused for a moment before recognition seemed to show on his expression. He took his backpack and fished something out. Ash and Misty took a closer look at it. It looked like a oddly-shaped metal... thing. However, he soon realized what it was when he inspected it more closely.

It was a love lock. A gold-colored, heart-shaped lock.

"Ugh," the young teenager groaned in exasperated disgust "I can't believe you two are going through with that landlubber, lovey-dovey tradition."

Lily retorted by sticking her tongue at her.

Said lovey-dovey tradition involved a couple affixing a love lock to the railing of Valentine's Bridge. The bridge was situated over a long, wide, but rather shallow ravine, north of Cerulean City. With the latest advancements in public transportation, it was easily accessible from the city. As far as Ash knew, it only became a thing fairly recently.

Either way, he was indifferent towards it. The Trainer saw no need to feel any bias when it had no effect on him whatsoever. It was their relationship, therefore the couple decided their little romantic idiosyncrasies, though that word might not be the most suitable one, considering that the railings of Valentine's Bridge were riddled with love padlocks.

Misty turned to him, pointing her thumb at the pair "You think we're gonna be hearing wedding vows from them?"

"Possibly." Ash shrugged "They've been together a while and seem happy enough. Ever since Team Rocket's founding, the age at which people got married in Kanto and Johto has decreased. My mom said something about tragedies and dark times causing people to realize how short life is."

The girl rolled her eyes "Not an excuse for them to tie the knot too early. Marriage is a wonderful institution, but seriously, who wants to live in an institution?"

The dark-haired boy chuckled in response.

* * *

 **Not bad, if I do say so myself. Over 13k!**

 **Sorry for the delay. Had a bit of writer's block, while also writing my new story Thinking Things Through. I'll try and post sooner than before.**

 **And now, story recommendations:**

 **On The Wings Of Death (Pokemon and Harry Potter crossover) by dreamingthroughstarlight**

 **On The Road, Far From Home (Pokemon and Frozen crossover) by OrangeGalen**

 **A Guide to Writing Pokemon Fanfiction by iggychan89**

 **Legacy Ascending (Naruto) by The Epic Pen**


	5. New Friends (Part I)

**Hi, I'm back again. I know, It's been far longer than expected, but I've finally done it. The fifth chapter.**

 **In case some of you misunderstood, when I said move capacity in the previous chapter, like Pikachu capable of knowing up to 11 moves, I didn't mean it like PP. I literally meant Pikachu could use a maximum of 11 different moves at once. In the games it is 4, in my fic it depends on the species. The move capacity grows as a Pokemon evolves.**

 **I don'town Pokemon.**

* * *

Ash lowered the brim of his cap in a futile attempt to stave off the heat radiating from the summer Sun. He wanted to glare at the offending celestial object, but it proved impossible when the intense light made him squint painfully. He would have to send a thank you note to Prof. Oak to express his profound gratitude for the clothes he had given him, which helped significantly with the current heat issue.

He also really wanted to glare at Brock at that moment.

"Are you _absolutely_ sure you want to go to Vermilion City first, when Celadon is closer?" The teenager asked his male travelling partner.

"Yes." For the umpteenth time. "The Vermilion City Gym uses Electric-types and Rhyhorn is the only one who hasn't fought in a Gym battle. I want her to fight in my next one and I certainly can't put her up against Erika's Grass-types," Ash explained with forced patience.

"Fair point, but going from Cerulean to Vermilion, then back to Saffron and to Celadon is going to take a long while. We can always take the train in Saffron City." Brock tried to argue his point further.

"Yes, but I can't train my Pokemon on board a closed off, public transportation vehicle, nor catch any new ones, can I? If you're so worried about time, we got plenty. Over eight months if you want to be precise," Ash retorted. He could understand his friend's point of view, but he had to put his Pokemon's training as top priority. Having done her fair share of practice, Rhyhorn needed experience to learn how to use it in a battle scenario, the sooner the better.

The older male looked like he wanted to keep arguing and the boy felt his patience steadily trickle away almost as if it was a physical sensation. Thankfully, their female companion cut in before Brock could continue his bellyaching "Quit dragging his anchor, Brocko. He's right. It's a good system he's got going; best not to disrupt it. Savvy?"

The brunet seemed ready to disagree for a few moments, but eventually sighed in reluctant compliance "Fine."

Ash fought against the urge to roll his eyes "There's nothing to be done about it. Sabrina won't accept anyone with less than four badges." Frankly, he sympathized with the older boy as the arrangement wasn't fully to his liking either. With Sabrina accepting only those with four badges or more and Saffron City being situated at the very center of the region, they would be moving to and fro between it, Vermilion and Celadon City.

With this infernal summer heat beating down on them all the way.

"Well, she doesn't have the easiest time holding back. The Pokemon League was all but eager to put the four-badge-minimum rule on her Gym, for the sake of any poor rookie sap who thinks can take her on. I personally think it's _she_ that just didn't want to go up against 'weaklings'," Brock said, using his fingers to mimic quotation marks on the last word.

Ash paused shortly to consider his words "I suppose being the Gym Leader of a city such as Saffron can't be easy." They had more responsibilities than just battling Trainers who wanted to enter the Regional Championship. They also had certain duties to their respective city or town, protection and whatnot. They were seen as their representatives.

Consequently, bigger cities equaled bigger responsibilities. No time to go out and catch weaker Pokemon for battles against greenhorns.

Of course, there were those who simply chose that they wanted to fight more challenging opponents. If the circumstances made their wish affordable and fair, not to mention _wise_ in some cases, the Pokemon League could grant them that favor.

"More than that, it gives Trainers a reason to rise to the challenge. The Pokemon Gyms are a test, not a plaything for biggity newbies. They're to be taken seriously," Misty explained with a huff.

"Agreed. So, have you planned out your Pokemon's training regimen yet? New moves?" Brock asked.

"No, I think I should lay off teaching them new moves for a while. Some of them are close to reaching the limit of how many moves they can do and until they evolve, I need to pick carefully," the raven-haired boy responded. "Metang is the only exception. Knowing 6 moves and being able to know 14... needles to say, the bar's pretty much open for him. Pikachu and Rhyhorn also need to finish learning Thunder and Counter respectively."

Brock and Misty were surprised at his analysis, not so much on the analyzing itself but more on how quickly and confidently he said it. It cemented into their minds that one thing you definitely couldn't accuse that kid of is not being attentive to his Pokemon.

The boy sighed "Rhyhorn's still got trouble learning Counter and I really don't know what to do further to help."

The brunet chuckled "Don't worry too much about it. She's still young. Even if the species' limit is 10 moves, she still needs more training, battling experience and growing to achieve that."

Ash pursed his lips, thinking it over. It was plausible; she _was_ young and inexperienced. It was the whole reason he had chosen to go to Vermilion instead of Celadon.

It was the early afternoon the day after they had left Cerulean City behind and the first 12 miles were thus far rather uneventful. Wanting to let his other Pokemon have a rest after the intense battle, Ash had trained with only Rhyhorn that morning while Pikachu watched on. It was mostly learning the still unperfected Counter, with a bit of PT on the side.

On a more positive note, with Pikachu's help, she had learned Thunder Fang a couple days before arriving to Cerulean City. The raven-haired Trainer was also happy to note that she had grown to about three quarters the size of an average Rhyhorn. She would be more than ready for the next Gym.

The group exhaled in relief when their path finally led to an open field with a small lake. They had passed a few clearings already, but they had needed one with either a watercourse or a lake, both for Misty's Water-type Pokemon and the rest of them. Sweating bullets, breathing alone required effort and they all felt close to passing out.

The Trainers released their Pokemon and began setting up a table for themselves. As Brock prepared lunch for them, Ash and Misty sat down on their chairs. The ten year-old jumped a little when Misty suddenly yelped and stood up. She looked down at her chair and saw water on it, which had caused the pants on her butt to get wet.

She glared at the offender, a snickering Squirtle, who was obviously enjoying the result of his little prank. That was the _third_ time he'd done that! He stopped his giggling, however, when he heard an intimidating growl behind him. He turned around and went pale at the sight of Misty's glowering Gyarados. The turtle chuckled nervously and started speaking frantically, his body language making it obvious to Ash that he was trying to make excuses to the Atrocious Pokemon.

"Never thought I'd hate _water_ of all things as much as I do right now," Misty growled as she patted her moist backside. She smirked when she saw her sea monster grill the sheepish turtle "You give 'im what for, Gyarados!"

He gave the Gym Leader a look that was neither amused nor disapproving "He was just having some harmless fun."

"So am I," she replied evenly.

He couldn't disagree with that. Besides, if Squirtle insisted on continuing his pranks, their harmlessness notwithstanding, he shouldn't complain if his targets decided to retaliate. It would also teach him that he could get away with mischief for only so long. Luckily he had the foresight to warn the little prankster not to use his water based pranks on Rhyhorn, lest he suffer incommodious punishment.

He flicked Pikachu's ear, who had been snickering at the entire display. The Mouse Pokemon glared at him, to which he responded with a brief snort and an upward twitch of the lips. He wasn't the least bit fazed. Pikachu usually laughed along when Squirtle deigned to _express_ his playful mood, sometimes even helping him. Ash only saw it fit to draw the line for him too.

On the contrary, while Rhyhorn and Metang weren't disapproving, they didn't seem to see the fun in it either. Metang would usually just stare blankly and Rhyhorn would tilt her head in incomprehension with a cuteness that her species wasn't usually capable of before resuming whatever she had been doing.

Just as they were eating a few minutes later, they heard bushes rustling. The group and their Pokemon looked up from their food to stare at the source of the sound. After a few seconds, a person came out of the brush at the edge of the clearing. The person was a girl of about 14 or 15 years of age if Ash had to guess, with long black hair darker than even his own.

When she saw them her eyes widened slightly, but her expression soon turned into a pleasant smile and she started sauntering over towards them. Pikachu tensed and seemed ready to get into a defensive pose. His Trainer rubbed his back to calm him, causing the Pokemon to stare up at him questioningly.

He gave Pikachu a reprimanding look, to which the electric mouse just grumbled a bit, but relaxed nonetheless. He was still visibly wary, as was Ash, though he hid it better.

"Hi there. I'm Amara Obsidian," she greeted them politely. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting. I thought I smelled smoke and it led me here."

"It's no problem. I'm Brock Slate." He stood up and extended his right hand, which she shook.

"I'm Misty Waterflower." She repeated Brock's actions.

Proper politesse crammed into his brain by his mom and Prof. Oak, the raven-haired boy stood up and shook her hand as well "And I'm Ash Ketchum."

"Do you want to sit down?" The male Gym Leader asked courteously. There was more than enough food on the table for one more person.

"Oh no! I don't wanna impose," Amara replied hurriedly, looking anxious, no doubt wanting to accept the offer due to the sweet-smelling food.

Misty waved her hand dismissively "It's no imposition. Besides, this ship needs a bit more estrogen in my opinion, if only for a little while."

Ash shrugged nonchalantly, seeing no problem with it. They had over a dozen Pokemon well-rested and ready to fight should her intentions prove pernicious, which he doubted to begin with "What she said."

After a few moments of contemplation, the girl gracefully accepted their invitation and sat down next to her fellow female, opposite of the two boys.

"So, Amara, you a Trainer?" Brock asked as he gave her a bowl of risotto.

"Mh-hm." She nodded in affirmative, her mouth filled with creamy rice. She looked at all the Pokemon out on display near the lake as she swallowed "Considering the Pokemon, you must be too."

"Yeah. Actually, me and Brock here are Gym Leaders, Cerulean and Pewter City, respectively," Misty responded with a small grin.

Ash was a little surprised by her admission, as she had been distinctly awkward in revealing that piece of information to him. Perhaps being in the presence of two friends who already knew her status helped her in that regard, or she had simply grown more comfortable with her role. Either way, he was glad by the development.

The older girl's eyes widened "Really?" She seemed to take a closer look at their Pokemon "Yeah, now that you mentioned it, there are a lot of same type Pokemon that are flocking together. Water and Rock-type, right?"

The Cerulean City-native nodded "What about you? Is there a type that tingles your fancy?"

"Two actually," she answered "Steel-types and Bug-types."

Ash smirked lightly in amusement when Misty straightened in her seat, horror etched on her face. The moment passed and she smiled somewhat weakly. Luckily Amara hadn't noticed, so focused on her food she was. He couldn't blame her, the smell alone was intoxicating.

Which reminded him.

"You said you smelled the food from _outside_ of the clearing, right?" Ash asked her curiously.

"Yes, I did," the raven-haired girl answered before swallowing another spoonful.

"That must take a really impressive sense of smell to manage, for human standards at least."

To their surprise, she shook her head with a laugh "No, no! Not at all. It's actually more that I'm good at being able to differentiate various odors. My sense of smell isn't really that much better than that of an average human."

"But it _is_ better," the raven-haired Trainer noted.

She gave him a proud and amused smirk "A result of adaptation, you see. From early on I was raised in an environment which assaulted my nose with strong odors and aromas. My body coped by strengthening my olfactory receptors, which in turn stimulated my sense of smell and my ability to differentiate them."

"Wouldn't an increased sense of smell actually make it even more susceptible to strong odors?" Misty asked, bemused.

Amara snorted "If that were true, you'd see Pokemon like Growlithe and Slurpuff walking around with tissues crammed up their noses. Sensory overload is a bitch, trust me." They gave her strange looks "Don't ask. The point is, the increased sense of smell helps regulate the fragrances that enter the nose, rendering it _less_ sensitive to strong smells, at least if they aren't in huge quantities."

While his knowledge in biology was just slightly above mediocre at best, Ash could see the logic in that. Still, her comment about her upbringing peaked his curiosity "If I may ask, what kind of environment did you grow up in?"

"No prob. I'm from Blackthorn city in Johto. My papa is a high-ranking worker in a mining company there and my mom owns a company that produces and distributes berry products. Papa works with ores and my mom with berries and products that derive from them. As you can imagine, having such positions made them really busy, so they often took me along with them to work," the dark-haired girl explained to them.

The travelling group of three were bewildered by her confession. After a short pause, Brock spoke up "But wouldn't you being there and them having to worry about you get in the way of their work? No offense."

She chuckled "No, their work wasn't really in any way dangerous for me. Like I said, papa works with ores, but he doesn't mine them himself. The reason is because he has the uncanny ability to tell apart the ores through smell alone, and has damn-near encyclopedic knowledge of their properties." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly "He was - still is actually - a bit of a Steel-type fanatic, having been a Steel-type Trainer when he was a kid."

She swallowed another spoonful of her risotto before continuing "My mom is pretty much the same, only with Bug-types. The berry company belongs to her family and they've been training Bug-types ever since its erection, since they help in the spreading of healthy berry seeds. It was actually thanks to them that the company became such a big woof in the first place."

"That's all interesting, but it still doesn't explain how your ability to tell apart smells became so good," Misty said.

"For one, just being in their respective workplaces made my nose hurt 'cause of the smells. That took some getting used to. And two... well, you can't expect a kid to just sit still like a guy on the toilet reading a newspaper. God, no! I was as rambunctious as the rest of them." She smiled in amusement "So my parents decided to make a little game."

"... a game?" the younger girl said in bewilderment, giving her senior a blank look.

"That's right. The game was I had to guess the ores or berry products and their qualities through smell alone. With time the quizzes became about Pokemon, like papa's Steel-types and mom's Bug-types, and about more in-depth knowledge of the metals and products, their appliances, et cetera," she elaborated to them.

What better way indeed. The parents had not only managed to spend time with their daughter, despite being very busy, but had also basically managed to ensure her future in two lines of work via education from an early age and a smidge of nepotism. It also explained why she seemed to subconsciously switch between vernacular speech and technical jargon.

She appeared to be fairly interested at inheriting at least one of their professions, which wasn't uncommon. People often showed interest in things they were good at, especially if said talents were discovered early on.

Truthfully speaking, Ash was a little envious. Not so much of the whole ensured future thing, as much as the fact that she had _both_ her parents go out of their way to make their child happy. Every time he heard Amara say 'papa', he couldn't help but solemnly wonder about his own absentee father.

His parents were never married, as he had been in Pallet Town for a little less than a year according to his mom. He left after that because his job, which had brought him there in the first place, required him to. A part of the raven-haired Trainer always resented him for it.

Oddly enough, his mom fully supported the man's decision and had told him during one of their arguments on the subject that Ash would've hated him even more should he have stayed. His job was just that important. 'Not to him, but in general' his mother had emphasized.

The man was aware of his existence and seemingly cared, since he sent his mom a sum of money every month, which he wasn't obligated to since they were never married. It was a small solace, but one Ash swore not to take for granted. Considering his mother refused to tell him what his job was and the fact that the monthly sum was fairly substantial, it was safe to assume his profession was pretty consequential.

Ultimately, he just didn't have enough facts to judge the man. He was a complete mystery to him.

"Very pragmatic. There are few things that can occupy a kid's time more easily than turning duty into a game," Brock commented, to which they all chuckled. He, of all people, should know. "So it's your parents' influence that caused you to use those two types," he surmised, to which Amara nodded. "Any special goals?"

"Yes, I want to become one of the Kan-Joh Elite Four," she answered. None of them were particularly surprised; it was a fairly common goal among Trainers after all.

Misty grinned "Me too. You'll be following the two type tradition, right?"

"Yeah. Steel-type will be my primary, while Bug-type will be the secondary type," the dark-haired girl answered.

Ash knew the tradition they were referring to was the one which allowed the Elite Four of the Kanto/Johto Pokemon League to wield two different types, a main and a subsidiary. It symbolized the two regions the aforementioned Elite Four represented, unlike all the others who represented a single one. As far as traditions went, this one was rather hot off the press, having been started by Agatha a little over 30 years ago. It wasn't mandatory, and officially, such members were still considered to specialize in a single type.

Right now, all of the two regions' Elite Four members went along with it: the Ice-type specialist Lorelei with a secondary propensity for Water-types; the Fighting-type specialist Bruno who was also prone to using the Sandstorm-types (a collective name for Ground, Rock and Steel-types); the Poison-type Master Koga who had an additional fondness for Bug-types; and finally, the Ghost-type virtuoso Agatha with a predilection for Poison-types.

Even the Champion Lance got on that bandwagon, being a Dragon Master who was quite fond of Flying-types and aerial battles.

His orange-haired friend, on the other hand, "What about you, Misty? Are you going to use a second type?" Amara asked before the ten year-old could open his mouth to ask the same question.

Misty pursed her lips "I'm not sure, but right now, I'm a bit more inclined to pass on it. I mean, I respect all types and I can make use of them if the situation demands it, but Water has always been special to me. None of the other types come even close."

"The other members, maybe even most of Kanto and Johto, could very well be displeased. People tend to let tradition root itself into their minds after all," Amara commented.

The Cerulean City Gym Leader rolled her eyes, totally unfazed "Then they can eat a dick for all I care. Being a dinky cup to peer pressure ain't the most viable way to becoming a great Trainer. If I rock the boat till they're all mal de mer, well tough titties!"

Not understanding the idiom, he gave a confused look to Brock, who leaned in to whisper "Mal de mer means seasick."

That explained it. Classic Misty Waterflower wordplay.

"Who do you plan to challenge for the title?" the rookie Trainer asked the older girl.

"Probably Koga. I figure it would be a bit redundant if two of the Elite Four had Bug as a secondary type," Amara answered. "I still need to win the Regional Championship though."

"So you're collecting Gym Badges?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, I came in second at the Johto Regional last year. After I came up short there, I set my sights here, and now, I've only got the Pewter and Viridian City Gym Badges left to win."

For one to be able to challenge the Kan-Joh Elite Four, the Trainer had to win either of the Regional Championships, it didn't matter which one. That was fair in Ash's opinion; winning one championship was hard enough. There was also the fact one Elite Four representing two regions meant twice as many challengers and obstacles to overcome just to get a shot at the title.

Who Misty would challenge was a no-brainer. Since Lorelei used Water-types almost as much as she used Ice-types, it would be, as Amara had said, a bit redundant if both she and Misty were Elite Four members.

To Ash, the Johto native seemed pretty confident in her chances. She seemed like the type who knew she was good, who didn't downplay her skills, but wasn't so arrogant to overestimate herself and underestimate her opponents. Amara just saw herself as she was, no sugarcoating and no false modesty. He could respect that. Fighting someone like her would be a challenge, and most of all, exciting.

"Hey, Amara?" he asked, prompting her to turn her gaze to the young Trainer "Would you mind having a battle with me after lunch?"

An expression of surprise crossed her face, as did his friends' faces, before grinning "Sure, kid. How many Pokemon each?

"Two-on-two," he declared. Though he thought of using Metang, he had just evolved and it would be best to let him get used to his new form by training a little before any battles, and he didn't want the young Rhyhorn to develop confidence issues by pinning her against an opponent so superior to her in skill and power. "By the way, I don't think any of us would mind if you released your Pokemon. There's plenty of space and food." The last part was especially true as Brock designed his food to be small, but compact with calories.

The dark-haired girl smiled thankfully as she dropped the spoon into her risotto bowl. Her hands went to her belt and she pulled out seven pokeballs before throwing them into the air. The motion caused the Pokemon inside to be released in a bright flash of white and materialize on the field.

As she had said, the Pokemon were predominantly Steel and Bug-types. The Pokemon team consisted of a Scizor, Escavalier, Lairon, Durant, Golisopod, Skarmory and a Forretres. It was inexplicable, maybe it was the way they held themselves or the look in their eyes, but Ash could simply tell that these Pokemon had formidable power and skill.

"There's more where that came from. Trust me," she declared proudly. Nobody doubted her.

Lunch resumed after Brock gave Amara the food to hand out to her Pokemon. After about ten minutes, the two Trainers on the opposite sides of the field, ready to get their match underway.

"Since I'm more experienced, I'll pick my Pokemon first. I choose," The teenage girl looked at her Pokemon with an inspective eye. Not ten seconds later, she found her choice "Lairon!"

The Hoenn-native Pokemon roared in excitement before walking to stand in front of its Trainer, its white armor gleaming under the Sun's rays.

Ash inspected Lairon critically, having already decided to play it safe by choosing Squirtle. He had no qualms to admit that the chances of beating her were close to nil, even with a type advantage. Besides, this match was meant to be a challenge, perhaps even a reminder that there were Trainers out there with capabilities far superior to his own.

"Your turn, Squirtle!"

The Water-type was quick to position himself on the field and enter a battle-ready stance.

Brock, the chosen referee, raised both his hands in the air "This is a two-on-two match between Amara Obsidian of Blackthorn City and Ash Ketchum of Palet Town! Competitors ready? Begin!"

"Squirtle, use Brine!" the younger of the two ordered.

"Double Team, Lairon!" Amara countered.

In an instant, half a dozen copies of the Iron Armor Pokemon appeared. The powerful jet struck the one in the middle, which proved to be a fake as it phased out of existence.

"Stealth Rock!" shouted the female Trainer.

All of the Lairons became outlined in white, after which glowing spikes of energy protruded from the holes in their armor. They fired them into the air where they briefly traveled upwards before descending down towards his side of the field. From Ash's point of view, they looked like a hail of arrows one would see in a movie, only much more... _divine_ in appearance. However, most of them dissipated in mid-air, while the remaining set turned to stone.

Fortunately, based on their position and having kept track of the attack, the boy had a pretty good guess on which was the right Lairon "Ignore it, Squirtle! Use Brine on the one second to last on your left!"

Despite the rain of rocks that seemed to be on a collision course with him, Squirtle dutifully paid them no heed and aimed his move at the form his Trainer mentioned, just as the stones pierced the ground around him, burrowing deep.

"Now Flash Cannon, Lairon!"

The armored quadruped opened its mouth wide, out of which a destructive beam of pure Steel-type energy was unleashed. Ash knew immediately that Brine wouldn't stand a chance, and neither would Squirtle.

"Water Propulsion!" he ordered.

The Water-type hastily fired a Water Gun against the ground, pushing himself in the air and causing his opponent's attack to pass harmlessly beneath him. Ash nearly sighed in relief, but knew better than to lose focus like that.

"Use Rock Polish, then Metal Claw, Lairon!" Amara commanded.

The Pokemon was outlined in a white glow again before it moved with a speed no being its size and weight would normally be able to. Not only that, but the speed boost managed to give it enough momentum to _jump_ towards Squirtle's falling form, the claws on its right foreleg encased in an ominous silver light.

"Squirtle, Iron Defense! Follow up with Bubble!"

The Tiny Turtle retracted his limbs and head into his shell, which began glowing silver-white, but not fast enough to finish before getting struck by Lairon's attack, launching him towards his side of the field at a rapid pace. Just as Ash thought that his Pokemon was too damaged to follow through, Squirtle righted himself in mid-air - no doubt thanks to all his experience with Rapid Spin - and fired a horde of high-powered bubbles.

The dual Steel/Rock-type was peppered all over by the super-effective move, though the raven-haired Trainer was sure it was more of an annoyance than anything. Thankfully, the true intention of the attack was fulfilled, which was to interfere with its descent to the ground. Lairon's landing was very wobbly, and Ash hoped that the combination of its weight and boosted speed meant _some_ damage taken.

His Pokemon meanwhile skidded along the ground and stopped about ten feet in front of him. Squirtle got up on shaky legs, looking worse for wear, but as determined as always he was proud to note. On the other hand, his opponent's Pokemon was still somewhat stunned by its crash landing.

A perfect opening if he ever saw one.

"Quick, use Brine while it's still recovering, Squirtle!" he ordered firmly.

The Water-type complied, firing an azure blast of water at Lairon, who couldn't react in time. To his dismay, while it did grunt in discomfort, it otherwise didn't seem to be in much pain.

"Lairon, Metal Sound!" Amara shouted.

With Brine still hitting its flank, the metal and stone beast opened its maw and unleashed a most uncomfortable, screeching sound, as if two rusty pieces of metal were grinding against one another. Squirtle halted his move to cover his ears to no effect. He gritted his teeth and cried out in pain before collapsing all of a sudden. Lairon cut off its attack without needing its Trainer's orders.

Looking at his Pokemon, it was obvious that he was out cold. Ash pulled out his pokeball and recalled the injured turtle with a resigned expression; it seemed that Squirtle was much more injured than he had let on, if a move that was usually supplementary in nature could knock him out. It just showed how wholly outclassed he was, as he had predicted.

Amara just signaled her Pokemon to walk back to her and patted its head, which Lairon seemed to enjoy. When it sauntered over to its Pokemon companions, she turned to give him a smile "Pretty good. A little rough around the edges, like all rookies. You actually caught me off guard when you made my Lairon crash land, though you still appear to have the mindset that a few seconds of reprieve, or your opponent giving you an opening equates to necessarily attacking your opponent."

Ash had the decency to look somewhat sheepish "I guess that's true since my style is mostly speed and offense based, but my options are kinda limited right now. My Pokemons' move arsenals simply aren't that varied yet."

"That's fair. These things will come with time and experience. Either way, let's get on to round 2. Skarmory, your turn!"

The metal bird's piercing cry of challenge was very reminiscent of Lairon's Metal Sound, only much less intense. It flew over the Johto native and landed on its side of the field. Not counting the horn, her Skarmory's height was _at least_ six foot five, way beyond the average six feet its species usually possessed, with a look of controlled fierceness in its eyes. The ten year-old was very close to gulping in anxiety.

"You're up, Pikachu!" He honestly hoped his voice didn't come out as nervous as he really was. Pokemon were good at sensing such things in people, especially in their Trainers. It wouldn't do to instill the same nervousness into Pikachu.

The Mouse Pokemon leaped onto the field with a small smirk, which was promptly wiped off when three stones rose from the earth and crushed him between them. Thankfully, they were rather brittle so the damage wasn't serious, but getting smushed between rocks was by no means a painless sensation. Pikachu breathed just a bit harder than before.

Ash huffed in frustration. This was a perfect example of what Amara had meant that an opening didn't necessarily mean directly attacking your opponent. Instead of attacking Squirtle when he had been open, she had ordered Lairon to use a move that would affect every single one of his Pokemon that entered the battlefield afterwards. If this had been a six-on-six match, all five of his Pokemon after Squirtle would've received damage at the start of their turn.

Though she hadn't exactly said it, Amara implication that he was too direct in his battle style was spot on. Too direct meant predictable and his opponent clearly lacked the mercy and goodwilled pity to not exploit his weakness. The gap between their calibers didn't seemed to have truly entered his mind till right then, in spite of his foreknowledge of the difference between their levels.

Would he be as good as her one day?

Would he be _half_ as good as her?

 _Focus, Ash. Focus,_ he shook his head lightly to try and rid himself of self-doubt. If anything held him back, Pikachu was much more likely to get seriously hurt. He graced his opponent with a determined expression, which she returned with a slight smirk, before turning his gaze to Brock and nodding.

The aspiring Breeder raised both his hands and brought them down with a shout of "Begin!"

"Skarmory, use Swift!" Amara ordered.

The metal bird raised its head, the horn on top of it glowing in gold-outlined white, and swung it downwards while releasing several star-shaped energy attacks.

"Laser Circus, Pikachu! Circle around it!" Ash countered.

Unlike when he fought against Misty, Pikachu created about a dozen copies this time, half of which were destroyed by Skarmory's Swift attack. Just as the smoke rose from the point of impact, six white blurs rushed at the opposing Pokemon. However, just as it seemed they would tackle the much bigger Pokemon, they turned and startled circling around it, three having turned to the left and the other three to the right.

Amara's Skarmory remained level-headed and calmly watched the six forms of its adversary dash around it at incredible speeds, yellow eyes roving from one side to another.

"Now Thunder Wave!" the raven-haired boy yelled.

"Protect, Skarmory!"

Just as six bolts of electricity attacked the dual Steel/Flying-type from all sides, its horn became enfolded in ethereal shifting tones of green and Skarmory generated a light-green energy dome around itself. The half a dozen Thunder Waves evanesced when they came in contact with the shield. Ash pursed his lips at the failed tactic. He had honestly thought that it had a good chance of succeeding.

"Use Whirlwind! Blow 'em all away!"

To his astonishment, Skarmory crossed its wings with Protect still up. The moment it went down, it uncrossed them with tremendous force, causing a blast of whirling wind to expand from its position far too fast for him to react. All six of Pikachu's forms were forcefully blown away, five of them disappearing and the real one skidding along the ground to his right.

 _There was no way that wasn't a practiced maneuver,_ Ash thought. It was too refined, too demanding for Skarmory to have learned it naturally.

In an impressive show of agility and reflexes, the electric mouse tucked and rolled before pushing off the ground in a backflip, landing on his feet. Though he had a few scratches and was winded, he was mostly uninjured.

Ash smirked in his direction "That's the way! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

His starter released a battle cry and the young Trainer's eyes widened when he unleashed an electric bolt much bigger than the usual Thunderbolt. He was quick to school his features, but a small smile of joy was on his face. While not yet mastered, Pikachu had just used a bastardized version of Thunder. It wouldn't be long now before it was done.

"Dodge!" the Johto Trainer ordered. Her Pokemon flapped its wings and gracefully avoided the move. She grinned slightly "Use Steel Wing! Tear it through the ground!"

Still in flight, Skarmory's wings shined silver-white and it started diving towards earth. It leveled when it neared the hard ground, but instead of its body being parallel to the ground, it was vertical, causing its wing to tear a gouge through it as the metal bird continued flying towards Pikachu.

Ash was quick to realize why Amara had ordered it to do so; to use Steel Wing as a conductor to divert any Electric-type move Pikachu may attack it with to the soil. Simultaneous offense and defense. It was a brilliant tactic, he admitted. On top of that, its naturally sharp wings, further enhanced by the utilization of Steel Wing, cut through earth and stone like a hot knife through clarified butter, leaving its speed more or less unhindered.

An attack like that would end with his Pokemon out cold if he didn't do something "Dodge it, Pikachu!"

The speedy little devil he was, the Mouse Pokemon evaded to his left with little effort. What neither he nor his Trainer expected was for Skarmory to do a sharp turn by using the wing tearing through the ground as leverage. Unable to react quickly enough, he was struck painfully by the glowing appendage. The fact that Steel-types were offensively weak against Electric-types was rendered moot by the power gap between the two opponents. Pikachu landed on the grass with a grunt of pain, his body littered with a few scratches and bruises.

The rookie Trainer exhaled through his nose, trying to rid himself of the pang of frustration he felt, and took a step towards his downed partner's direction. Saying he had lost was an understatement, she had handed his ass to him like he was a... well, rookie. That thought did little to alleviate his woe.

However, just as he took another step, Pikachu shakily raised his head and began standing up, determined eyes trained on his much larger adversary. Ash actually gaped a bit at the show of fortitude, but he knew that his starter was standing on sheer willpower and nothing more. The match was over. He resumed walking to his Pokemon in a slightly quickened pace.

"That's enough, Pikachu," he said strongly. When the raven-haired boy reached him, he bent down to pick the Pokemon up. Pikachu stared up at him in his arms with a disappointed gaze, to which he responded with what he hoped was a comforting smile "We lost, but you were great out there. We were simply outmatched."

"You and your Pokemon did pretty well, all things considered," Amara said as she came closer to them. She graced them with a smile that didn't hold pity nor sympathy, but simple goodwill. "I can tell you right now that you're better than I was when I started out and had only two badges. Your Pokemons' combos are more elaborate and their moves hold more power than mine did. Overall, an impressive display."

Ash bowed his head in acknowledgement and gratitude, her admission lifting a bit of the weight of his disappointment "Thanks, Amara. I needed that."

She gave him a look of understanding "Trust me, I get it. Even when it's expected, or at least reasonable, loss hits you hard. Only after you've lost a certain amount of times does it start to feel okay to lose."

He certainly hoped that was true; it was a real shitty feeling. He hadn't even managed to land a single blow on Skarmory, though he speculated that it was significantly more experienced than Amara's Lairon, considering she had started her journey in Johto.

Nevertheless, it showed that he still had a _long_ way to go. If Amara was this strong, he could scarcely imagine what the Elite Four were like. Watching them battle on TV wasn't the same as witnessing it up close, let alone fighting against one of them.

The mere thought gave him a sudden case of the willies. He resolved to train himself and his Pokemon till all he felt at the prospect was excitement with none of the fear and jitters, if it was even possible.

* * *

After giving Ash's Pokemon the needed medicament and ample time to recuperate, which wasn't all that long, Amara and the group decided it was time to part ways. While the company continued, in Misty's words, plain sailing south to Vermilion City, the solo traveler resumed her trek up north to Cerulean City. The farewell consisted mostly of handshakes and good luck-wishing, not yet being so comfortable with one another as to go further than that.

Close to half an hour later, they reached a fork in the road that divided into two paths. Luckily there were two wooden, arrow-shaped signs with writing etched in them: the upper pointed right said 'Saffron City 47 miles, Vermilion City 132 miles' and the lower pointing left said 'Gravelroad Town/Laramie Ranch 1 mile, Lavender Town 171 miles'.

Ash looked at the lower in confusion "What's Laramie Ranch?"

"It's a Pokemon ranch that houses and takes care of several types of Pokemon while trying to raise them in a habitat that is as natural as possible. Laramie is the family that owns the ranch," Misty supplied the answer.

Brock perked up "I remember now. The family hires Pokemon Breeders to help run the ranch, as well as train potential ones. For a Pokemon Breeder to be employed by the Laramies is quite an honor."

The dark-haired Trainer looked contemplative for a few seconds before shrugging "Might as well check it out. It's gonna take a while to reach Vermilion City anyway," he agreed readily. It was only fair. He couldn't neglect the reason why the oldest of the group was traveling with them in the first place.

After walking for about half an hour, they reached a small town. The houses and buildings congregated along the single main path that went through Gravelroad Town, giving it a natural, old-fashioned feel. For the most part, they gave the houses and stands quick glances without stopping, much more interested on reaching the famed ranch.

A little further, on the outskirts of the town and closer to the fields and forest, they came upon the facility. It consisted of a main house with several sheds, barns and a number of fields divided by wooden fences. Inside said fields resided groups of different species of Pokemon, each of them being watched over by a person or two, presumably Breeders or trainees.

"Howdy there!"

The three turned to where the female voice came from and saw a blue-haired, teenage girl riding a Rapidash heading in their direction, a Growlithe running next to them. The two older travelers failed to notice Ash tense and his eyes glaze over momentarily.

 _Fire!_

 _Smoke!_

 _Bur-_

He shook his head and swiftly composed himself, but the action didn't fail to escape Pikachu's notice, his sensitive ears having picked up on his abrupt increase in heart rate. Neither did the electric mouse fail to make the connection between it and the episode that had occurred just before they met Misty. He didn't act on it though since the Rapidash rider had just come to a stop in front of the group.

"Welcome to Laramie Ranch, y'all. I'm Lara Laramie," she addressed them with a friendly smile.

"Hello. My name's Brock Slate, and my friends here are Misty Waterflower and Ash Ketchum," the teenage male greeted in return, gesturing to each of them, respectively.

Lara perked up suddenly, climbing off of Rapidash "Really?! Well, I'm humbled that two Gym Leaders of our region have taken time outta their busy schedule to visit our lovely ranch. Had I known, I would've dressed better," she said in a joking manner "Of course, that don't mean that the third companion is of any lesser value."

Ash nodded stiffly, but appreciatively, while Brock stepped forward "I'm quite honored to meet one of the Laramies. I am traveling to be a Pokemon Breeder myself, actually."

"I see. So how much do you know about taking care of Pokemon?" she inquired curiously.

"Mostly self-educated, but I've helped out at the Pewter City Pokemon Center when I had the time. I'm also pretty decent at making Pokemon food. The animals seem to love it," he responded a touch nervously, embarrassed by his lack of a formal education on the subject.

The blue-haired girl just nodded and looked at her Rapidash "Ya got some food for a Fire-type with Rapidash's physiology?"

He opened his backpack and rummaged in for a moment before bringing out a container labeled with a red sticker "I think this will work just fine." He opened the lid and took out a few pieces of the Pokemon food. The Fire Horse looked at its trainer for confirmation, who nodded, and proceeded to eat the chow.

Barely two seconds later, it whinnied happily and got closer to the aspiring Pokemon Breeder, lightly nudging him. He quickly pulled out a few more for the Pokemon to munch on, giving some to the Growlithe as well, who seemed to enjoy them just as much.

Lara laughed "Well, you seem to be doing something right. She doesn't go this crazy even for my mama's home-made Pokemon chow." She then pointed at the Puppy Pokemon "He neither."

Bock blushed, embarrassed by her praise "Thank you."

"If I may ask, how can you ride atop of Rapidash with those flames on her back?" Misty spoke up suddenly.

The rider opened her mouth to answer, but Ash beat her to it "It's because Ponyta and Rapidash's fiery mane is not actual fire, but their energy shaped to appear as flames. It won't harm anybody the Pokemon implicitly trust."

They looked at him surprised, though Lara quickly broke out into a gratified grin "That's right. Have you ever been near a Ponyta or Rapidash before?"

"Yeah, at Prof. Oak's corral," he answered in an unusually quickened pace, gazing anxiously at her Pokemon's mane of fire before looking away.

"Pallet Town kid, huh? Shouldn't be surprised, I guess," she said carefully, having noticed his reaction. He strongly hoped she wouldn't question him about it. To his relief, she then turned to the oldest of the group "How about I take y'all to see Rapidash's mate? I'm sure he'll love your food as much as she did."

The brunet was more than happy to oblige and his two companions merely followed his lead. Just as Lara started leading them to their destination, they heard an approaching sound. Turning towards where it was coming from, the group noticed it was a three-headed bird Pokemon running in their direction with a guy of about Lara's age riding on its back.

When the Dodrio stopped next to them, the rider began talking to the young Laramie, a sneer present on his face "Hey there, Lara. How you doin'? Givin' the visitors a little tour of your _beloved_ ranch?"

Despite the seemingly courteous words, the tone and facial expression were anything but "Yes, if you must know. And it's not my ranch, it's my mama's and daddy's, Dario," the blue-haired girl answered, visibly annoyed at his appearance.

Dario scoffed "Only on paper, you mean. With your... _performances_ on the track, the people here might as well call you the boss and come to you for any and all advice on Pokemon breedin'."

"You still licking your wounds from three months ago when I whooped your ass in the annual race? Will you ever grow up?" she fired back, crossing her arms.

He scowled at her words "I almost won the race, but your dam-gum equine had to go and evolve just before passing the finish line. If that ain't a dirty trick, I don't know what is. What's the point of the race if you don't cross the finish line with the same Pokemon you crossed the starting line, even if it was an evolution?"

"Last I checked, there ain't no rules against it. Besides, 'almost' only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and flinging shit from a shovel. Had you won, you would've felt the same way and _don't_ you bother denying it," she retorted, frustrated by the petty teenager's drivel.

Dario didn't dignify that with a response, simply sniffing and nudging his Dodrio forward. When he was gone, the group looked at Lara "Friend of yours?" Misty asked sarcastically.

"He's a little shit is what he is!" The blue-haired woman humphed while rubbing her forehead. "A damn good Dodrio Trainer all the same. The erratic personality that the Dodrio possess, having three heads and all, tends to make them a less popular with the crowd and this extends to Dario. He doesn't feel he's appreciated enough because of that."

She sighed after a few seconds "I admit he's better than anybody I've ever seen at handlin' the flightless critters. Hell, he's able to control a whole herd of 'em. That kind of skill is definitively worthy of more praise than most of us here, and it's the only reason we keep him on the ranch. What he's bad at is handlin' is, in his view, that absence of appreciation."

"Is that why he seemed so sour about the Annual Laramie Ranch Race? I can assume being the winner of such a once-a-year event would help boost his popularity," Misty surmised.

The Laramie teen nodded "Hit the nail on the head. I ain't gonna hesitate to admit that even our resident Breeders haven't been as appreciative as I expected them to be. The Dodrio were a lot of trouble, that's true, but Dario wasn't the most likable person to begin with; he just grew into an even bigger asshole. His behavior certainly don't warrant him any extolment."

Ash readily agreed with that sentiment. He respected many Trainers like Champions and Elite Four members for their strength and _nothing more_. He was wise enough to understand that their skill in battle reflected little to nothing on what they were truly like. Character defined people more than their abilities.

That was why they called it character.

The three, four if one counted the electric mouse on Ash's shoulder, followed their host as she led them to a small, fenced clearing. Their eyes widened when they got a closer look at what it contained. It wasn't because of the additional Rapidash inside, but what was between it and Lara's Fire Horse Pokemon who had just lied down next to it.

Three red and cream colored eggs.

"They sure are pretty, ain't they?" Lara's voice broke them out of their dumbfounded daze. She was gazing adoringly at the Pokemon couple and the eggs "After she evolved in the middle of the race, her mate evolved immediately after he saw her like that. Thanks to that they were able to conceive those eggs, since Pokemon with more than one form can't breed while in their first evolutionary stage."

"That's commitment for you," Ash commented casually, much more relaxed than before. "When are they due?"

"Any day now. She laid them eggs a month ago. Since even newly-born offspring are pretty big and developed, Ponyta eggs are large in comparison to most others and it takes quite some time for the babes to develop properly before hatching," she replied.

"Everybody must've been really excited about this as these two seem to be the only two of their kind to live in this ranch," Brock commented. The different egg sizes and requisites for the eggs to hatch were always intriguing to him. He knew for a fact that the time it took for an egg to hatch depended more on the species itself than the size of the egg, even though size did play a factor in it.

The blue-haired Breeder grinned proudly "You bet they were!" However, she soon grimaced after remembering _everyone's_ reaction "Okay, maybe not everybody."

The raven-haired boy quickly came to the conclusion "I can imagine Dario wasn't as ecstatic about it as the others."

"Never seen a slimy, little reptile go pale before, I can tell ya that." Lara scoffed, causing them to chuckle.

After Brock fed the male Rapidash some of his Pokemon food, who reacted much the same way as his mate, the group spent the rest of the daytime with Lara. She introduced them to the different species of Pokemon they took care of, giving them pointers here and there and allowed the travelers to release their own Pokemon to mingle. Misty had introduced the new additions to her older team, as well as strictly warned them not to discriminate against Spearow due to her not being a Water-type.

When nighttime closed in, the company decided to spend some time in the town. Thankfully, the temperature cooled down from hot-enough-to-cause-a-forest-fire to cozily warm, making the experience much more enjoyable. They decided to call it a day at about ten P.M. and their host helped them find a hotel to spend the night in.

"Hope the tour was to y'all satisfaction, 'cause I'm about ready to hit the sack," the Laramie said, stretching her arms above her head.

"Yeah, us too. Thanks for helping us around the ranch. We should be weighing anchor tomorrow morning so we'll see ya then," Misty returned.

Lara nodded and was about to say something, but was interrupted by an ground-shaking explosion. The group fought to stay on their feet and looked at each other with wide eyes when a middle-aged woman came running to them, looking horrified.

"Lara, it's coming from the ranch!" she yelled.

The blue-haired girl adopted the woman's horrified expression "WHAT?! What's going on?"

"I don't know. I just saw smoke coming fro-" another explosion stopped her from finishing the sentence. The group immediately started running towards the facility, passing by frightened citizens. When they entered the confines of the Laramie property, they saw the panicking Pokemon running around in a frenzy with the Breeders trying to calm them.

Ash soon noticed that, interestingly enough, one of the fields was empty. He remembered it as the field where they kept the Dodrio, Lara having showed it to them earlier that day. However, he shook his head, ridding his mind of trivial thoughts and concentrated on the sounds and smoke that was coming from deeper in the ranch. They soon came into a breathtakingly alarming scene.

There was a huge, robotic contraption attacking the ranch and causing havoc, a big red R on its front and tank treads on the bottom.

"What the hell is that thing?" Misty yelled, looking decidedly alarmed.

"I don't know, but we have to stop it before it destroys the ranch and kills somebody!" Lara yelled back.

The robot had four long arms, two of them holding a few Pokemon while one of the unoccupied fired an _actual missile._ Thankfully, it didn't explode anywhere near any Pokemon or people, appearing to serve more as a way to cause even more wanton destruction. Nonetheless, fires sprung up where the dangerous projectiles struck, making the situation all that much worse.

"RAAAAUURGH!"

The group jumped at the terrifying roar and saw a Gyarados, Misty's Gyarados to be exact, raising his tail with a giant vortex of water swirling around it. With another mighty roar, he swung the appendage and hit multiple fires, extinguishing them all.

His orange-haired Trainer whooped in joyful pride "Way to go, Gyarados! Show 'em what you got!"

The rest of them sighed in relief, Ash and Brock becoming even more so when they saw their Pokemon running towards them. They both embraced their animal companions, beyond happy they weren't hurt or worse. However, when Ash looked up from his Pokemon, Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder, he noticed a figure standing next to one of the sheds and quickly recognized it as Dario. What he saw made his blood boil.

The guy was smirking widely with his arms crossed. The little shit, as Lara had suitably called him, had the further audacity to nonchalantly lean against the shed as if what was happening was high-quality entertainment.

Before he could march up to him, perhaps even slug him in the face, the raven-haired boy couldn't help but remember the Dodrio the young Breeder took care of. More accurately, the lack of said Pokemon's presence in their designated field, as if knowing danger was coming. His mind swiftly came to a realization.

 _"I can imagine Dario wasn't as ecstatic about it as the others."_

 _"Never seen a slimy, little reptile go pale before, I can tell ya that."_

His mind filled with clarity, he shouted "Misty, can you and your Pokemon take care of that thing?"

The rest of the group looked at him, confusion marring their faces before the Gym Leader replied "Sure, but why?"

"I think the Rapidash and their eggs are in danger! Even if not, we should check on them anyway!" he explained quickly, obviously worried.

Lara looked unpleasantly surprised and turned to look at Misty with a pleading and apologetic expression. She just waved it off "Go! I can take care of that shit pile of junk and whatever yahoo that's controlling it!"

She nodded in immense gratitude and started sprinting towards the Rapidash clearing, Brock and Ash following behind with their Pokemon. When they stumbled into the clearing, their worst fears were realized. Both Pokemon were on the ground, conscious but unmoving, while the eggs were trapped inside a glass-like container attached to a Meowth-shaped hot-air balloon by long metallic cable.

And why did those blue sparks emitting from two equines' bodies look familiar?

"No, Rapidash!" the rushed towards the two Fire Horses, stroking their manes as they glared up at the thieves who were stealing their eggs, despite the pain.

"Hey, give them back the eggs!" Ash shouted, a raging fire in his eyes.

A woman with long, dark magenta hair, looked over to them and smirked "No dice, twerp! We got our prize of the day!"

A man with lavender hair piped up immediately afterwards "Yes, so I'm afraid we cannot stay!"

Then, to their astonishment, a biped Meowth spoke next "Yeah, so Team Rocket will be flyin' up, up and away!" The three criminals started laughing obnoxiously.

The raven-haired boy gritted his teeth "I don't think so! Pikachu, use-"

"Wait, Ash!" the boy turned to look at Brock, confused by his sudden exclamation "You can't hit them with long-distance attacks. You might damage the eggs. Even if you don't hit them, they might get damaged if they jostle too much. You need to separate them without them bumping around in that thing."

The boy cursed, both at the entire situation and at himself for his carelessness. Before he could come up with a plan, however, the cannon-like weapon attached to a machine on the underside of the balloon's wicker basket, where the cable holding the container was connected as well, came to life and fired a familiar blue bolt of energy at the group. Luckily they all dived to the side just in time.

Ash, Pikachu and the brunet teenager stared at each other with comprehension in their eyes, having come to the same conclusion. It was the same weapon that the fossil thieves in Pewter City had used. Both had also come to the conclusion that Team Rocket must have been the ones to hire them in the first place.

 _Either that or they have the same weapons supplier,_ Ash thought, not at all happy about a possible third party partaking in nation wide crime. The flying vessel getting further away made him all the more crabbed. Fortunately, his brain had finally formed a plan. Making haste, he stood up and began barking orders at his Pokemon.

"Metang, fly up with Pikachu and use Take Down to catapult him towards the balloon! Pikachu, use Signal Beam to destroy the machine attached at the bottom! Metang, it's _absolutely_ imperative that you grab the container with Confusion _before_ Pikachu destroys the machine, otherwise the eggs might get harmed! The rest of you, get ready in case they retaliate!"

His Pokemon dutifully followed his orders, the electric mouse jumping onto his metallic teammate, flying towards the hot-air balloon while the ones that remained on the ground entered battle stances. When Metang deemed they were close enough, it surrounded itself in gold-white energy and spun before, in one mighty heave, throwing Pikachu towards the airborne Team Rocket.

"Meowth, do something!" the lavender-haired man shouted, worried.

"I can't! The damn mouse is comin' in too high for the weapon to aim at it!" the Cat Scratch Pokemon yelled back, panicking at the sight of the multi-colored energy orb forming in front of Pikachu's mouth.

"PikaCHUUU!" said Pokemon fired the powerful Bug-type attack at the contraption, a blue light simultaneously enveloping the container holding the eggs. The beam cut straight through the machine, causing it to explode. Fortunately, the cable had held the eggs far enough away from the contraption to not suffer any damage from the explosion or the shock wave that came after, instead being gently levitated back to the ground along with Pikachu, who Metang managed to also catch with its Confusion attack.

"Awesome job, you guys!" the raven-haired Trainer complemented them, grabbing the container in his arms and carried it to the two Rapidash, ignoring the twinge of fear that went through his body. It was easy enough to open and he set the eggs next to the slowly recuperating parents, who looked at him and his Pokemon with all the gratitude in the world.

"This ain't over yet, twerp!" the magenta-haired woman growled, pulling out a pokeball "Arbok, use Headbutt!"

The Cobra Pokemon appeared on the ground and hissed before charging at the group. Ash was about to call out a command, but he was stopped by Rhyhorn by stepping in between them and the approaching danger. He looked at her with confusion and fear, she was still rather young and who knew how powerful that Arbok was.

"Rhyhorn, what are yo-" he began when Rhyhorn was suddenly outlined in red. It appeared unsteady for a moment before stabilizing, looking almost natural around her large form. When Arbok struck, it didn't even push her back an inch. Instead, the Poison-type was blasted back as if socked by a freight train and flew straight towards the Team Rocket balloon.

When it crashed against the vessel, the remainder of the wrecked machine exploded once more, sending the whole group of criminals shooting away.

"Team Rocket is blasting off again!" they shouted morosely, disappearing into the night sky.

Ash hugged Rhyhorn's head "You learned Counter! That was brilliant, girl!"

All his Pokemon cheered at their success before their Trainer was yanked from behind and promptly hugged to near-death.

"Thank you _so much_! Thank you, thank you!" Lara said through her tears of relief as Ash awkwardly rubbed her back, not knowing what else to do.

They heard multiple footsteps and turned to look at the two Rapidash, Brock managing to heal their paralysis using his self-made Pokemon food, who both licked one of his cheeks in joyful thanks. With an awkward smile and resisting the urge to take a step back, or five, he rubbed the saliva off his face.

To his bemusement, he noticed the female looking somewhat intensely at his Pokemon before looking back at him with the same expression.

A few moments later, she started talking to her mate in their Pokemon language. He looked befuddled and stared at the Trainer before seemingly talking back. They stopped after a little while and suddenly gestured for Ash to follow them to where their eggs were, much to the confusion of the humans and their Pokemon. However, as they were walking, the eggs started glowing, prompting them all to quicken their pace.

To Ash's shock, the male pushed one of the glowing eggs in his direction as soon as they arrived. He looked up at the soon-to-be parents and saw them staring at him intently. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they wanted.

He was understandably astounded, it was a unique situation indeed. To get a Pokemon egg with the approval of the very parents definitively wasn't like buying eggs at the market.

"Are you sure?" he asked, to which the two Pokemon nodded and he knelt before the lone, shining egg and observing it nervously. Was he ready? Did he have the capability for it? Rhyhorn was young when he had received her, but already old enough to train and fight. A newborn was a whole different can of worms.

Could he do this despite the memories of _that day_ still haunting him?

There was no time think about it though, as the glowing shapes started morphing before their very eyes. The middle section became narrower, but the ends grew larger and longer. Half a minute later, it stopped and in front of the two Rapidash lied two baby Ponyta, their eyes closed and their faces peaceful. Their eyes opened soon enough and looked at their parents affectionately.

Ash's egg took a bit longer to finish hatching. When it did, the newly-born Ponyta was in the same position as its siblings were and just like them, it opened its eyes to stare at its 'parent' lovingly. He didn't know what it was. The cuteness? Its small size? Or the concept of him being a parent? All he knew was he felt his anxiety wane and vanish.

He cupped the side of its face, who leaned into his teach with a cute whine. He slowly lowered his other hand to its fiery mane. Taking a leap of faith, very uncharacteristic of him, he raised the pace in the last few inches and put his hand on the back of its neck. To his relief and elation, his hand remained unburnt.

"Hey there, buddy. I'm Ash," he spoke in a gentle tone he would usually find embarrassing, but it didn't matter then. Fortunately, he wasn't _totally_ inexperienced at raising newly-born Pokemon, having had a hand in caring for a few young ones back at Oak's ranch.

As it cuddled up to him, he fished out his Pokedex and pointed it at the Ponyta.

 **Ponyta, the Fire Horse Pokemon. It runs in fields and mountains all day. It's hind legs, equipped with diamond-hard hooves, kick back at any presence it senses behind it. This Ponyta is female and has the ability Flash Fire. She knows the moves Ember, Tackle, Growl, Stomp and Double Kick.**

"Oh, it's so _cute_!"

The group noticed Misty approaching them as she visibly gushed over the newborns. The sight made the young Trainer smirk in amusement.

"They are, ain't they? The left one is male and the right one is female," commented Lara, pointing at the baby Ponyta being looked over by their parents. "They're all already able to walk and jog and their legs will get stronger by chasin' their parents. Right now they're about half the size of an average fully grown Ponyta and should reach the average size in about two and a half months."

"She should be battle ready in less than two weeks. Newborn Ponyta are more developed than most after birth and are already strong enough for light training, in case you're wondering, Ash," Brock added his two cents.

Not a surprising fact. Survival in the wild necessitated that Pokemon be capable of self-defense less than twenty-four hours after birth. It's either that or risk death by territorial dispute or as food for another.

His orange-haired friend scowled at him while scratching his Pontya's chin to her delight "You better not make her fight during the first two weeks, mister, or I'll knock an anchor over your fucking head. Isn't that right, you _little_ _cutie pie_?" she said gravely, cooing the last part at the Fire-type babe.

He nodded, smirk still in place. That was his intention, she needn't have worried. Though he could guess by her relaxed and cheery demeanor that everything went okay with the robot, he still had to ask "There were Rockets who tried to steal the eggs, but we managed to stop them. How did things go on your part?"

She scoffed and then smirked herself "Didn't stand a chance. Gyarados first destroyed the robot's tracks with a Hyper Beam. When they were dead in the water, my Pokemon used Ice Beam to freeze the arms and break them to free the Pokemon they captured. One of 'em actually exploded on its own. Probably had a missile inside it."

Lara smiled widely in her direction "Thank you, Misty. I don't think I can ever repay you for that."

"Trust me, Lara, it was a pleasure," she responded with a hint of viciousness. "After that, two hatches opened up on its... shoulders, I guess, and two Rockets came out. They called themselves Cassidy and Bitch."

They gave her strange looks, wondering if they heard her right. Was one of the Rockets' names truly Bitch?

"Did one of them really call herself Bitch?" Brock asked skeptically.

" _Him_ self." Now they looked at her in utter incredulity. Misty suddenly looked contemplative "I think his name was something else actually, but I forget. Anyway, they started ranting some crap about love, evil and world domination. A load of bilge water, I didn't pay much attention. I then ordered Gyarados to use Surf on the robot, but they called out an Abra who used Teleport to send them away." She sighed resignedly "I wish I could've caught them for the police."

"You did more than enough, Misty," Lara comforted her.

Ash nodded in agreement "Yeah. Besides," His expression turned cold sober "the one responsible for this is still here on the ranch, if he hasn't cut and run yet that is."

The rest of the group looked at hi with surprise etched onto their faces. "What do you mean? Team Rocket got away," Brock said.

He shook his head "I don't think they did this on a whim. I believe they were hired by someone here." Trepidation overcame their expressions and Lara appeared ready to protest, but Ash cut her off "There's no proof, but it makes sense. The robot Misty fought was a diversion. Why would they attack so directly when there were so many Pokemon and Trainers here to fight back? Plus, they seemed more focused on causing havoc and creating a lot of noise than actually capturing the Pokemon." That was sloppy work. Too sloppy for an organisation like Team Rocket.

The male Gym Leader perked up in realization "The eggs. They were the main target."

Misty's and Lara's eyes widened at that revelation. The mention of the eggs suddenly reminded of him of the sleeping Ponyta babe that was still in his arms, having held on to her unconsciously. Pulling out an unoccupied pokeball, he tapped it lightly against her head. The ball opened and sucked the infant inside, pinging immediately after. He soon did the same to his other Pokemon, except for Pikachu, who climbed onto his shoulder.

He put it back on his belt before saying gravely "Yes, and we know who here would want them gone the most. Correction, there's only one person here who would want them gone at all."

The blue-haired woman's wide eyes turned angry in a matter of seconds. She breathed in deeply a couple of times, her shoulders shaking in unbridled rage "That motherfucker! I swear to God, I'll geld his balls off and nail them to a wall! I fucking will!"

As the two Gym Leaders tried to calm her down, an exercise in futility while angry themselves, Ash stood up and started walking away from them. The action garnered their attention, who started calling after him and followed the boy. A few short minutes later, they came upon the sight of Team Rocket's half-wrecked instrument of destruction. An Officer Jenny was there along with half a dozen other law enforcers.

However, Ash ignored them all and continued walking, his friends still following behind him. His destination soon became clear, when Dario entered their peripheral vision, leaning against the shed like earlier. A sour look of indignation marred his face, which cemented in their minds his involvement in this criminal endeavor.

He sent a malicious sneer their way when he noticed them approaching "Well, look who finally arrived. It's a pity you guys missed it. Team Rocket really did a number o-"

His drivel was interrupted by a fist hammering painfully against his face, which caused the back of his head to bounce of the hard wooden wall of the shed. He fell down, clutching his face and whimpering like a schoolgirl. He released an even stronger whimper when a scowling Ash placed his knee between his shoulder blades and dug into the courier bag Dario had on his back. His friends gaped almost comically, so stunned they could do nothing, even Pikachu who had jumped off his shoulder when he had swung the fist.

"Hey, kid! What do you think you're doing?!" They twisted their heads to see Officer Jenny and her colleges running over to them.

Undeterred, the Pallet Town native continued to rummage through the pack, easily keeping the surprisingly weak teenager subdued. Surprising taking into account the fact he handles, trains and rides the rambunctious Dodrio. He pulled out his hand when he found what he was searching for.

It was a cellphone.

Ash remembered Lara mentioning that all employees were gifted cellphones because they were easy to carry. It meant they could make a quick call to their employers if there was an emergency or anything else that required their attention. He easily unlocked the screen since Dario didn't set up a PIN, the dumbass, and accessed the phone call list. His scowl deepened at what he saw, almost snarling, and he tossed the device at Officer Jenny, who had just reached them. With reflexes undoutedly honed fro police training, she deftly caught it.

"Read the name of his most recent call," the dark-haired boy said, his fierce gaze trained on the squirming teen under him.

"I'm going to need you to get off him first," she said in a stern, no-nonsense voice. Ash looked at her for a second before reluctantly taking his knee off his back, admitting internally to himself how rash and suspicious his course of action was. He took a deep breath through his nose to calm himself, ignoring the slowly-rising Dario's death glare.

He looked ready to jump and wail on him in retaliation, but fortunately, Officer Jenny noticed it too and coughed loudly, a more than obvious warning to dissuade him from doing exactly that. When he turned to look at her and the other officers, Ash was gratified to see his face turn pale and adopt an expression of dread.

It seemed Lara was right. It was definitely a unique look on his face. His eyes were turning left and right, as if searching for an escape route, and his hands were clammy with sweat. As earlier today had proved it, the guy had no emotional control whatsoever.

The leading law enforcer, the well-trained cop she was, narrowed her eyes in a nearly menacing manner. She glanced at him then, her eyes a bit softer but as steely as the hide of a Steelix nonetheless, before looking down at the cellphone in her hand. She furrowed her brow in what seemed to be confusion.

"It says here that the last call he had was from him, and the name of the recipient is TR." She looked up at Dario. "Mind explaining what that stands for?"

If possible, he looked even more scared, and as he tried to make some pitiful excuses, he decided to grant the reprobate cretin a little pity "It stands for Team Rocket."

Jenny twisted her head to give him a narrowed stare "And why do you think that?"

"You're gonna take us in for questioning, right?" She nodded in affirmative. "I'll be happy to answer all questions."

"Wait!Wait!" Lara suddenly shouted, running to them. "He isn't guilty. Ash and his friends arrived just today. Brock and Misty are also Gym Leaders. I can vouch for them."

Ash felt a rush of warmth at her proclamation. He smiled lightly in her direction while Officer Jenny spoke "Be that as it may, we need to find out if Team Rocket really was hired by someone here." She sighed at the Breeder's dismayed expression "If it's any consolation, I highly doubt he's in any way responsible, but better safe than sorry. Not only that, since he is so adamant in his opinion that Dario is responsible, I'd like to hear his insight as to why."

"Then I'd like to offer myself for questioning too. I can prove that the robot was just a distraction and their goal was really something else," she said seriously, her back ramrod straight and eyes hard.

Jenny looked at the cuffed and near-panicking Dario "Let's get to the station. We'll sort everything out there."

* * *

Ash and the gang, along with Lara, waited in the lobby of the local police station as they interrogated Dario. Though unusual, the officers had decided to question the four of them all together. All of them had answered truthfully and offered every piece of information they knew about the whole situation. The Pallet Town native was sure they had given more than enough to make them rightfully suspicious of the hopefully-soon-to-be-found-guilty teenager.

He only hoped they were right about Dario. Part of him knew he hadn't been completely objective in his deduction, though all the evidence did point at him. The larceny of Pokemon was bad enough. When the Ponyta had hatched and he had become a pseudo-parent to one of them, that's when the anger had truly _boiled_ within him. Somehow, the notion of parenthood towards a baby that wasn't even the same species as him, that hadn't even _been his_ when the attempted theft had occurred, had torn at his walls of self-control like a 6000 pound wrecking ball.

If he felt like this for her, he couldn't imagine how strongly a real parent felt for their children? How strongly his mom felt for him?

He was prevented from thinking about it further by Officer Jenny exiting the interrogation room. She had a rather intense visage at the moment. Ash didn't know if that spelt good or bad. Lara was the first to voice their curiosity "Well?"

"He has the spine of a gummy bear. He didn't last three minutes in there," she said with a smirk, putting down the folder she was holding onto a desk. "As you implied, he hired them because of the eggs. He had gotten Team Rocket's number because they had approached him after the Annual Laramie Ranch Race. It seems they've been inspecting the ranch for a while now, scouting for Pokemon to steal no doubt, and they found him worthy of corrupting. Not that they had to try real hard with Dario."

She sat down on one of the chairs there with a sigh "Needless to say, their plan was a step away from full proof, but they hadn't expected the presence of two Gym Leaders, nor a ten year-old with the brains to see through their ruse." Ash blushed a little but managed to keep his composure, causing her to chuckle. However, she turned stern immediately after "That being said, I will have to let you off with a warning. Valid reasons aside, what you did was, by all means, an unprovoked assault, since he wasn't found guilty yet."

"I was right," the raven-haired Trainer answered simply.

"You could've been wrong too. Had you been, a petty man like him would've sued. That's why you leave these things to the authorized personnel," she lectured calmly yet firmly, and Ash couldn't help feeling like an unruly child. He had a strong urge to duck his head like one. Surprisingly, she softened considerably "Although, your... passion against injustice towards Pokemon is admirable. And I'm not ungrateful for what you did. Plus, considering that you've just become a 'parent' to one of those babies Team Rocket tried to steal, I suppose I can't fault your over-emotional reaction."

He turned his head away, truly flustered this time. He heard Misty and Pikachu snort and chortle at her statement, no doubt finding his predicament very funny. Over-emotional was not a word he'd like people to use when describing him. He didn't like admitting the few times he allowed his emotions to cloud his judgement and spur him into doing something temerarious and stupid. Granted, he had been correct this time and had done an analysis before acting.

He had just acted badly.

"Officer Jenny, where are the Dodrio? Dario was taking care of them," the blue-haired woman asked, worried about the Pokemon.

"He hid them in the forest south of the ranch, in a clearing. He made an excuse to the other Breeders that he was taking them for a run," she answered. "Anyway, you're all free to go. The police's going to have a field day with the shitstorm Team Rocket left behind."

* * *

Ash was getting annoyed.

They had left Laramie Ranch over three hours ago, Lara having thanked them profusely one more time, and he had noticed his friends sending him odd looks in the last few minutes. He had at least expected Misty to say something by now. He was certain he knew what they wanted to talk about, so he had resolved to confront them when they reached their next resting spot. And they did, not fifteen minutes later.

He put his backpack next to the stump in the clearing they found and turned to them. He wasn't one to beat around the bush after all "Alright, guys. Spill."

The two Gym Leaders exchanged a look before the ginger-head spoke up "We, me and Brock, are just a bit worried about... last night. How you attacked Dario like that."

He sighed. This could be a long talk "I overreacted. I should have had better control and I'm sorry you had to see that."

"No one's judging you, Ash. But you also never overreact. I mean, you've stopped _us_ , your seniors, from rushing into situations several times. The only other time I remember you acting like that was when those fossil thieves tried to take Beldum," Brock said earnestly.

"I have my reasons." Ash was conflicted. He wasn't yet comfortable enough to reveal to them about The Incident. About why he reacted so strongly to Pokemon theft. Still, a part of him realized he might never be truly comfortable in revealing it to anyone if he didn't start somewhere. If he failed to reveal it to anyone even a decade from now, he'd probably be just as reluctant as he was now. Maybe more so.

Time didn't heal wounds. Effort did. Time just made uncleaned wounds rot further.

But could he take that step? He didn't want to appear weak, and yet he felt like one of those cliche anti-heroes who only heap more pain upon themselves because of their stubbornness and sense of strength and weakness. Was he really becoming like one of those people, fictional or not? Ever since The Incident, the raven-haired Trainer had tried to form a balanced personality, a balanced approach to things. Best of both worlds and all that jazz. Prof. Oak and his mother had supported him, so it didn't seem wrong.

Misty appeared ready to give a mild protest, but relented with a sigh of nearly palpable disappointment "Okay, Ash. It's for you to share... and I really hope you'll trust us enough to share it with us one day."

That did it.

It was time to man up. He might have issues, but he wouldn't sacrifice the friendship he built with them for the sake of a childish yearning to keep said issues close to the chest like a spoiled brat that didn't know how to share his toys.

He did not want them to think him untrustworthy, or perhaps even a hypocrite. They all had had hardships in their childhood and he knew both of theirs.

It was time they knew his.

He looked at them with resolve glinting in his eyes "I trust you both enough today."

* * *

 **Whoomp! There it is! Nearly 15k. My biggest chapter yet. I truly hope that the size of the chapter makes up for the wait I put my dear readers through.**

 **I'll be putting a poll sometime tomorrow with which you'll decide whether I should change the title, summary, both or none. It will be closed in about a week's time.**


	6. AN

**Hi, guys. I'm sorry to say this isn't a chapter. Don't worry, I'm not cancelling the story or anything. Depending on a person's individual perspective, the news can be considered both good and bad.**

 **It's about the poll I put up. About changing the title, summary, both or nothing. Despite the results, I've decided to change both. I apologize to those who have voted for 'none of the above', but I've been having strong doubts about the title and summary and the answer was right in front of me. It wasn't something I should've let my readers decide for me.**

 **I'm writing this to inform you that the name of the story is going to be changed to 'The Precedence Set', or just 'Precedence Set'. I hope it's catchier than 'The Light At The End Of The Tunnel' and 'Power Isn't Prowess'.**

 **It's also very possible that I'll be revising the chapters. If I do, the chapters will retain their original name, but will have 'revised' in brackets next to it.**

 **That's all for now. I'll be sure to update - or revise - soon.**


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